Learning about Dutch Engineering

Today we learned how the Dutch deal with water. We got on our bikes and rode through Nijmegen to the river. First we had to park the bikes in a covered area and learn how to properly fit one bike above the other. As Kees says, small country, lots of bikes, you need to be creative. 

It works! 

One thing you notice about the Netherlands is the amount of water in their country. There are canals and rivers everywhere. Here we are by the river Waal, not far from the Rhine farther north. Both are busy water routes with barges travelling by every few minutes.

Below is a one piece foot bridge near the river that Kees said would sway as you walked across. Numerous Nijmegen residents were leary of this special feature. So we had to check it out. It did sway! 

In Nijmegen the Waal often floods. So the engineers have a plan to prevent this from happening. 

They are digging a large canal for the river to flow into. In doing so they have removed land and houses, made the remaining land an island and provided a bridge to get back and forth. An amazing amount of dirt is being moved. Fascinating to see the trucks and earth moving machinery working away. All should be done on this six-kilometre section of river in two years.

This is how it should look. And this is where it is at right now.

It is difficult to see but there is a bridge just for the new island. Kees and Norman walking across.

We did a circle tour, over one bridge and back on another. We hardly got rained on at all.

We will have to come back in two years to see if it is completed.

A quick stop for a drink, back on our bikes and home in time for dinner. Tonight Jasper, Kees and Dineke's son and his partner, Maartje came for dinner. So nice to see them. Their baby is due in July. We hope he will like the books and bear from Canada.