Over the past few weeks, we have learned a lot about how water is an important part of Dutch culture. With all of their canals and rivers, boats are always present in Dutch life. However, with all of the walking, biking, and driving that Dutch people do as well, you still have to be able to get across water! That is why bridges are also an important Dutch symbol. I see bridges every day in the Netherlands, even just on my bike to work. There can be very simple bridges to get across a very small canal, or there can be large, complicated bridges that serve a very special purpose. One of these special bridges is the Slauerhoff Bridge in the city of Leeuwarden, in the Netherlands. Leeuwarden the capital city of Friesland, a province (part of a country) in the north of the Netherlands. The Slauerhoff Bridge is a drawbridge, which means that it can go up and down to let tall boats go through underneath. This bridge is fully automatic. Designing a drawbridge can be very difficult because you need to find the best way to let cars and bikes cross a road safely while still allowing space for boats when they need it. The Slauerhoff Bridge was built in the year 2000 over the Harlinger Vaart River. There are a lot of boats on the water, so the bridge is raised and lowered about ten times a day.
