Renovation historic Station bridge Middelburg - Hollandia

Renovation historic Station bridge Middelburg

The Station Bridge (Stationsbrug) in Middelburg is a historic swing bridge that was built 70 years ago. It connects Middelburg town centre to the railway station and is the ‘big brother’ to the smaller Sou Bridge (Soubrug) that the Zeeland provincial authority commissioned Hollandia Services to renovate a few years ago. Lifting this 280-metric-ton historic bridge off its bearings on 25 September 2019 attracted a great deal of attention from the locals. Over the coming six months, the bridge will be renovated completely and coated at our yard in Krimpen aan den IJssel. The work involves a fine combination of steel riveting, mechanical engineering, E&I, and hydraulic engineering that is handled fully in-house. Including the removal of the chromium 6 containing paint layers and the blasting. 

Renovation historic monument
Steel riveting
Mechanical engineering
E&I
Hydraulic

What work will be done on the Station Bridge?

• The wooden deck will be replaced by a steel deck.
• The swing bridge will be stripped of old layers of paint and recoated.
• The double drive system for the swing bridge will be replaced.
• Most of the bridge’s electrical system will be replaced.
• The hydraulic generator for the lifting mechanism will be replaced.
• The lifting mechanism will be revised.
• Various civil engineering work around the bridge.

Revealing chromium 6 layers of old paint

The bridge was initially supposed to be renovated in the fall of 2018, but this was postponed when preparatory work revealed chromium 6 in the layers of old paint. Although this toxic substance was encapsulated in the paint, there was a risk of it being released during blasting or sanding. As a result, we were forced to take additional measures to safely remove the paint. The paint was removed using a special blasting method in a closed space on our yard.

Watch the short film or the mini documentary we made about this project below: