The Moerputten Bridge is a former railway bridge near the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

city

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. It spans the peat lake 'Lange Putten'.

Context

Moerputten Bridge is located in the area between 's-Hertogenbosch and Vlijmen. Before World War II this was regularly flooded by the overflows in the Meuse dykes. An overflow () is a stretch of dyke that is intentionally left lower than other sections. At exceptional or seasonal high water levels, it overflows and relieves the pressure on other dykes, thereby preventing these from breaking. Panneau_Traverse_du_Beerse_Maas

East of Vlijmen, water would enter the area from the seasonal river Beerse Maas, which was caused by the Beerse Overlaat near

Grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

(see map). It led to water entering the area from north, and sometimes from south of 's-Hertogenbosch. The second overflow that regularly flooded the area was the

Bokhoven Bokhoven is a village in the Netherlands, in the municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch. It is located about seven kilometres northwest of the city center, on the south bank of the river Maas. History Until 1795 Bokhoven was a quasi independent st ...

Overflow, even though it could also be used as an exit for the Beerse Maas. In January 1880 water from the Bokhoven Overflow entered the area with such force that the big bridge before the (Vught gate) south of 's-Hertogenbosch was flushed away. From the first plans for the railroad, it was clear that in order to cross the area, the railroad would have to be constructed on a high solid dyke. This dyke could not be allowed to block the flood plain of the overflows, because that would necessitate reinforcement of dykes in a very wide area. Therefore, the railroad would need to be constructed with so many openings that the overflows could flood the land without obstruction.

History

In 1875 a law called for the construction of the Lage Zwaluwe-'s-Hertogenbosch railway. Between Vlijmen and 's-Hertogenbosch the railroad would be constructed at 7.5 m above

Amsterdam Ordnance Datum Amsterdam Ordnance Datum or ' (NAP) is a vertical datum in use in large parts of Western Europe. Originally created for use in the Netherlands, its height was used by Prussia in 1879 for defining ', and in 1955 by other European countries. In the ...

. It meant that it would be constructed on a railroad dyke. Two openings were planned in the dyke. The Moerputten Bridge of 510 m long, and the Venkant Bridge of 30 m long. The bridge was in use as railway bridge on the Lage Zwaluwe-'s-Hertogenbosch railway from

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

until

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

Current Situation

In 1995 Moerputten bridge became a monument. Two years later Staatsbosbeheer bought the bridge and the area around it. They restored the bridge to the original state in 2004. Moerputten bridge is now part of a

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

which has been constructed on the former railroad dyke. It stretches from the

Jeroen Bosch Hospital The Jeroen Bosch Hospital or JBZ, is a general hospital in 's-Hertogenbosch. The building at the current location on the Henri Dunantlaan was opened in 2011. History Created by mergers The Jeroen Bosch Hospital resulted from multiple merg ...

in 's-Hertogenbosch to

Vlijmen Vlijmen is a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the municipality of Heusden, about 6 km west of 's-Hertogenbosch.''ANWB Topografische Atlas Nederland'', Topografische Dienst and ANWB, 2005. Vlijmen was a separate mu ...

References

{{Reflist Railway bridges in the Netherlands