Unusual Shaped Red Bridge in Utrecht, The Netherlands

There is an unusual shaped red coloured bridge in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Known as the "Red Bridge" (Dutch: Rode Brug), it is a small narrow draw bridge on the water channel between Anton Geesinkstraat and the Loevenhoutsedijk. The bridge built in 2009 is replacement of an earlier bridge which was also red. A bridge had existed at this location as early as 1621. About 1870-1890 a double lift bridge was built here and in 1950s present bridge's predecessor, a single draw red bridge was built here.

Because of its proximity to the Zandpad - Utrecht's red light district on houseboats, many feel that its red colour is symbolic of the activities in the area. The Zandpad area is also commonly referred as the Red Bridge.

Image from Flickr  is by ednl

Image from Flickr is by passer-by

The Old Red Bridge (Predecessor of present bridge)

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Dohduhdah

View location in Google Earth / Google Maps and Street View (Note: The present Google Earth imagery, which is dated 26 March, 2007, still shows the old Red Bridge, however Google Street View shows the latest Red Bridge.)

Main Source of info: Dutch Wikipedia (English Translation)

Detailed info and sketch/image showing the bridge in operation can be found in following links;

• autocadexchange.com (in Dutch) (English Translation)
• jansen-venneboer.com (in Dutch) (English Translation)

Credit: I am thankful to kite_surfer, Member and Master Cartographer, Google Earth Community, for checking the contents of this post. Thank you Kite.