17/02/2023

Inauguration “Salangaan” footbridge, Vilvoorde (BE)

On the 17th of February, the new mobile footbridge in Vilvoorde was inaugurated and is now in service after just over 2 years of construction. The consortium of Artes Roegiers – De Meyer – Ney & Partners is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of this new footbridge crossing the Brussels-Scheldt Maritime Canal.  The new bridge is a double piston-stayed bascule bridge of steel, with a main span of 63 meters and a free deck width of 4 meters. Each of the two mobile bridge parts weighs approximately 140 tons. The new footbridge is part of the link from the Basilica Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Troost in Vilvoorde to the Basilica Sint-Servaas in Grimbergen and, more locally, a connection between the park “Drie Fonteinen” on the left bank and the urban development “Vier Fonteinen” on the right bank. The users can use wide staircases or elevators to cross the canal around 10 meter above the water level. By means of a referendum, a name for the new footbridge was chosen: the “Salangaan” bridge, after the nearby living swiftlets and a tribute to the late scout Frederik Vanclooster.

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