Brienenoord arch - December 2003

Brienenoord Bridge climb - December 2003

Angelo climbed, Ben and I filmed and later it was made into a cool video-clip. Everything went smoother than expected.


I'm in love with the Van Brienenoord Bridge. It's beautiful, large and spectacular.	The pylons hide a lot of spaces that I've never been able to penetrate.
	And tonight Angelo would attempt the impossible - he would traverse the arch of the bridge. I was certain that he would fail - he would be spotted, the police would come and we all would be arrested. The watchtower never sleeps...


At 22:30 Ben and Angelo arrived on their bicycles. We searched for the best camera angles, and I got the safest one - under the bridge.	Ben would be filming from the sidewalk and Angelo would carry the third camera. This would mean he would have only one hand to hold himself.


From the sidewalk it looks like a long haul.	Angelo didn't hesitate, he ran up the arch, ignoring the traffic.

Walked up the first ladder. - Notice that the essential streetlight is off, just a coincidence?	And quickly reached the maintenance catwalk, where he disappeared from Ben's view.


Looking through the catwalk, onto the many traffic lanes.	Looking South, in the direction he came from.

Looking West, towards the opposite side of the arch. There are four of these maintenance catwalks, but the one on the East side is the easiest to climb.	Looking North, towards Rivium and Brainpark. Notice the watchtower again.

	From my location I couldn't see Angelo's progress, so when a small light appeared against the sky I thought: "Nice, that must be a satellite." But then I realized that it must be Angelo. It was the screen of his video camera.

The descent went as smoothly as the ascent, with one dangerous incident ...	... one of the rungs of the catwalk was missing, and Angelo almost fell trough while filming.

Angelo and Ben enjoy the view after their succesful exploit.

Other people - drunk students, several years ago - were less lucky. They got arrested.

March 2004