The Hollandse Brug is a bridge structure that crosses the

Gooimeer The Gooimeer (Gooi Lake) is a bordering lake in the Netherlands between the southeastern part of North Holland (the Gooi) and Flevoland. There is a railroad bridge over the narrow west side, between Weesp and Almere Poort, with a parallel highw ...

and the

IJmeer The IJmeer is a ' bordering lake' (''Randmeer'') in the Netherlands straddling the provinces of North Holland and Flevoland. Namely, it is the southeastern section of the Markermeer. It is an important habitat for birds such as the tufted duck an ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

.The Hollandse Brug forms the border between the Gooimeer and the IJmeer. The Gooimeer is defined as the water between the bridge and the next major bridge further south, the Stichtse Brug; the IJmeer's reach is defined as the water northwest of the Hollandse Brug. The bridge carries both the Flevolijn

heavy rail Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

railway and the A6 motorway, plus a cycleway and footway.

History and importance

The bridge opened on and, since then, has been the main link between the

Randstad The Randstad (; "Rim City" or "Edge City") is a roughly crescent- or Circular arc, arc-shaped conurbation in the Netherlands, that includes almost half the country's population. With a central-western location, it connects and comprises the Net ...

(the conurbanation including

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

) and the province of

Flevoland Flevoland () is the twelfth and newest province of the Netherlands, established in 1986, when the southern and eastern Flevopolders, together with the Noordoostpolder, were merged into one provincial entity. It is in the centre of the countr ...

, including its two largest cities

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands across the IJmeer fro ...

and

Lelystad Lelystad () is a Dutch Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and the capital city of the province of Flevoland in the central Netherlands. The city, built on reclaimed land, was founded in 1967 and was named after Cornelis Lely, who en ...

. In 1987, the bridge carrying the Flevolijn railway between

Weesp Weesp () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and an urban area in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Amsterdam in the Provinces of the netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It had a populati ...

and

Almere Buiten Almere Buiten is a district in the municipality of Almere in the Dutch province of Flevoland. The district houses 56,760 residents as of 2023. Almere Buiten is made up of the following neighbourhoods: Bloemenbuurt, Bouwmeesterbuurt, Eilandenbuur ...

was opened adjacent to the Hollandse Brug.

References

Bridges completed in 1969 Concrete bridges in the Netherlands Road bridges in the Netherlands Railway bridges in the Netherlands Bridges in Flevoland Bridges in North Holland Buildings and structures in Almere Buildings and structures in Gooise Meren Zuiderzee Works {{Netherlands-bridge-struct-stub