Schip Bridge Arnhem

The ship bridge Arnhem was a pontoon bridge in Arnhem over the Lower Rhine. The ship bridge was located to the west of the city at the site where the Nelson Mandela Bridge is now. It provided the most important connection across the Rhine until the construction of the Rhine bridge in 1935. In 1603, the first ship bridge was built. This made the city more accessible for farmers from the Betuwe and for merchants from Nijmegen who previously crossed with a ferry. The ship bridge consisted of a number of small ships with a bridge deck on which people could walk or drive from one bank to the other. When a ship wanted to pass on the river, a part of the bridge would be removed. Those wanting to cross had to wait; this could sometimes take a long time. If there was a lot of ice floating on the river, the whole bridge was removed and placed in the harbor.

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