Jeff Bezos is not allowed to sail under the historic bridge in Rotterdam. The bridge will be dismantled

The De Hef Bridge in Rotterdam is definitely a historic building. Moreover, it is liked by the inhabitants of this city, who once defended it against demolition in the 1990s. Now they will not defend it. Fortunately, the bridge will only be gone for a few weeks.

The whole culprit behind the Dutch bridge confusion is Jeff Bezos and his Y721, the ultra-modern and of course the world’s largest yacht, which cost 430 million euros and was built at the Alblasserdam shipyard, near Rotterdam. And once its construction has been completed, you can start sailing it on the sea. For this to happen, however, Y721 has to reach the sea, and unfortunately it turns out that the only possible route for this unit is through the Koningshaven harbor basin in Rotterdam and under the De Hef bridge, under which it will not squeeze.

So Jeff Bezos will pay for its demolition and reassembly

The media cites this news as shocking, which makes me shocked, because it’s not that the problem appeared suddenly and no one was prepared for it. It is of course quite the opposite. The Rotterdam authorities are quite well prepared for the whole situation, ie everything has been planned. The bridge will be dismantled and reassembled by specialists, Jeff Bezos will pay for the entire operation, so the inhabitants of Rotterdam will not be charged with any costs and… well, that’s it.

Neither is De Hef a key transportation hub. Yes, it used to be a very important railway bridge, but now its main role is to be a very nice monument (if one likes bridges) that has been taken out of service. The only objections to the entire operation are raised by the Rotterdam Historical Society, whose representatives, quite rightly, fear that the elements of the bridge will be damaged during the demolition and reassembly.

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After De Hof was fully restored a few years ago, these concerns are completely understandable. The Mayor of Rotterdam, in turn, emphasizes that the construction of the Y271 has created new jobs for Rotterdam residents, so the city feels obliged to provide the mega-yacht with the only route leading to the sea.

And that’s about it. Demolition and reassembly of the bridge will take place in the summer, a specific date has not yet been released to the public. The entire operation is to take several weeks and if its course is as planned, no one will suffer from this situation.