Dear members of the KIVI Department of History of Technology and of Histechnica,

The Boards of the Histechnica Association and of the KIVI History of Technology Section are pleased to invite you to attend a lecture to be delivered by Mr Ir. G.J. Luijendijk entitled:

"The gliding bridge across the world"

Programme:

  • 10.30 a.m.: Walk-in with coffee and tea
  • 11:00 a.m.: Welcome and introduction
  • 11.05:00: Lecture by Mr Geert Jan. Luijendijk
  • 12:00: Break
  • 12:15: Continuation of lecture and closing discussion
  • 12:45: End of the meeting

please register to attend this lecture:

  • KIVI members can register via the KIVI website
  • Members of Histechnica can register through the secretary hotzeboonstra@gmail.com.
  • Interested parties who are not members can also register through the above channels. There will then be a cost of ā‚¬5.00.
  • The lecture will be broadcast live; you should also register for this through the above channels. There is no charge for this.

Summary of the lecture

Mr Smith proposed building an innovative type of bridge over the River Tees in 1873, but Middlesbrough City Council did not dare at the time. In 1890, Frenchman Arnodin and Spaniard De Palacio registered the patent for a "means of transporting loads". Immediately afterwards, they started building the world's first suspension bridge over the Nervion near Bilbao. It was completed in 1893, and from the moment the gondola could smoothly cross not only pedestrians but also carriages and horse-drawn carriages, the bridge was a great success.

Engineers and administrators from several countries came to see it, and soon Arnodin received orders from Tunisia, France and England to build similar suspension bridges. Around the turn of the century, Arnodin visited several cities in the Netherlands by invitation to assess whether a suspension bridge might be built there too. Although he had an enthusiastic supporter in the Rotterdam engineer Wouter Cool, it never materialised (although .....).

A total of 25 suspension bridges of varying designs by various engineers were built in Europe, America and Africa. The advent and explosive growth of car traffic, World War I and high maintenance costs were reasons to stop building new hover bridges. Some of the existing ones did not survive the Second World War. Eight remain, the oldest of which is still in full use in Bilbao.

Information about the speaker

Gert Jan Luijendijk studied architecture with a specialisation in historic preservation in Delft. His studies lasted "slightly" longer than average because he put the knowledge he had already acquired to good use in bringing the concept of sailing monuments to the attention of ministers. Furthermore, he conducted extensive research into the monumental status of bridges in Amsterdam's inner city. He eventually graduated on the combination of that historical research with an accompanying policy paper plus the design for a bridge. From that job, he retained his great enthusiasm for the subject of historic bridges, especially those in iron and steel.

After ten years as director of the Monumentenwacht Nederland, he moved on to the Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, the current Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. There, he became a general enquirer for built heritage. And with questions on bridges too, colleagues and the field soon knew where to find him.

At the request of one of his TU lecturers, Professor Oosterhoff, founder of the Dutch Bridges Foundation, Gert Jan joined the board of that foundation and then stayed on for over 15 years. Questions about historical bridges are still submitted to him as well.

Upcoming activities at Science Centre Delft:

  • Saturday 24 January 2026 at 11:00 am lecture by Ir. J. van der Mast: "Delft industrial revolution".
  • Saturday 28 February 2026 at 11:00 a.m. lecture by Mr H. Ouwerkerk: "Dutch fortress construction".
  • Saturday 21 March 2026 at 11:00 a.m. lecture by Mr J. Halmans: "Electrical power station of the Oranje Nassau Mines in Heerlen".
  • Saturday 25 April 2026 at 11:00 am lecture by Liselotte Neervoort: "From aircraft wing to toaster: 4-year programme Customised Faculty Collections at TU Delft".
  • Saturday 16 May 2026 at 11:00 am lecture by Em. Prof. P. Kruit: "Mapper".