Dillinger heavy plates the
Ijssel bridge

With its red color and a span of 150 m, the two tier railway bridge is the new eye catcher in the railway system of the Netherlands. It crosses the river IJssel between the city of Zwolle and the village Hattem and has a length of 926 m. This architectonical masterpiece replaces an old bridge, which was situated 50 m further north and was dismantled October 2011. With a height of 9.10 m above the highest navigable water level, meaning 7 m higher than the existing old bridge, it enables unhampered shipping traffic on the river IJssel also during a situation of high tide. In the design phase environmental aspects have played a decisive role. In order to preserve the natural balance of the river, the foreshore bridges were grounded on single piles which do not disturb the given flow of the IJssel. These environmental requirements lead to longer bridge spans for which one relied on high quality steel of Dillinger Hütte. For this distinguished bridge construction Dillinger delivered about 7,580 t heavy plates of the grades S355J2+N, S355K2+N, and S355NL in thicknesses up to 90 mm.