Vierendeel Bridge Grammene

In 1846 the first railway bridge over the Lys was built in Grammene. That bridge was the first all-metal truss bridge ever. The first Vierendeel bridge in Grammene was built in 1922. She had a span of 56.16m and weighed 360 tonnes. Rebuilt after the Second World War in 19xx. 1992: start of the fight for the preservation of the bridge. The NMBS had plans to replace the Vierendeel bridge bridge over the old arm of the Leie in Grammene-Deinze on the railway line 73 from Ghent to Adinkerke with a new concrete bridge. In February 2001, renovation work started on the bridge to ensure the stability, load-bearing capacity and appearance of the bridge for years to come. 15 tonnes of iron were processed and the tracks were also renewed. The sandblasting used about 160,000 kilograms of sand, but this was recovered as much as possible. 6,000 liters of paint, all spread out with the brush, put the bridge in a fresh color. Unfortunately, a fatal accident at work occurred during this work. A new walkway was constructed, both along the railway and in front of the cycle path, the latter also received a new parapet. The vast majority of the renovation costs were borne by the NMBS, the municipalities of Deinze and Zulte paid for the cycle path along the bridge. On Saturday, December 14, 2002, the bridge was reopened to pedestrians and cyclists.

Dirk Acx