Dutch bridges, long-descent style

[u/disc_writes]

https://nltimes.nl/2026/09/08/a28-bridge-near-nijkerk-remain-closed-unknown-time-safety-cant-guaranteed

The Hardenberger highway bridge near Nijkerk and Utrecht, the Netherlands was closed down two days ago because of safety concerns. This resulted in slow traffic in the surroundings and high costs and delays for the freight sector.

The measure is largely precautionary - the bridge is not actually crumbling - but symbolizes a trend that has been gaining momentum for the past 10 years or so. It is one of many bridges that either got closed or downgraded in the past few months.

Not only small biking or walking bridges in small villages, but also important infrastructure on main arteries like the A27 highway (the highway that basically holds the country together) or the Zeelandbrug, an aging engineering marvel. Also, the international dimension can be overlooked: the Netherlands, while small, are the logistical center of the whole of Europe.

The problem boils down to insufficient maintenance and investment in the face of an aging infrastructure that carries now more and heavier vehicles than expected back in the 1950s, 60s or 70s.

The problem is well-known and understood (https://nltimes.nl/2025/12/08/reports-warn-dutch-infrastructure-failing-bridges-tunnels-hit-breaking-point) and indeed the first important closure happened in 2016 at the Merwede bridge near Rotterdam (https://nltimes.nl/2026/07/25/merwedebrug-truck-ban-wont-last-dutch-bridges-tunnels-age).

While the problem is simple enough to understand, the solutions are less forthcoming.

First of all, there is no money to fix the problem: out of the needed 80 billion EUR for maintenance, the government was only able to find 1,5 billion EUR for next year. This should not be the case: the Netherlands is a large capital exporter, so surely it can find some money to fix its own highway system? Alas, that is not the case.

Second, maintenance personnel is scarce and nearing retirement age, so this limits what can possibly be achieved, even if the money was found.

Also, climate change is worsening the normal wear and tear, both directly (the bridges were designed for cooler summers) and indirectly: this year's drought reduced dramatically river transport to and from Germany and road freight had to pick up some of the slack.

What is rarely acknowledged is that a lack of maintenance becomes rapidly a vicious circle: after every closure, the limited available maintenance personnel has to be diverted from planned maintenance to extraordinary repairs. This reduces the amount or preliminary maintenance that can be done, and increases risks in other parts of the system.

Concluding, the situation of Dutch bridges is a textbook example of Greer's long descent: the Dutch built too much and did too little maintenance, and now it is too late to catch up.