Model of a Pontoon Bridge

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883

ObjectNumber: NG-MC-1074

Model of a pontoon bridge with two pontoons, incorporating two slightly different designs. The bridge can be opened by pulling back the pontoons underneath the gangways at either side. On one side, the gangway is raised with a system of levers, on the other side, with chains and capstans.

The design with the lever system was used for the pontoon bridges of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal (Amsterdam-Den Helder), which was dug from 1820 to 1824. The other system was designed to meet different water levels in the canal. The contracts for the pontoon bridges specified that a scale model had to be made for each bridge.

J.M. Obreen et al., handwritten inventory list for items 944 to 1431, 1884, manuscript in HNA 476 RMA, inv. no. 1089, no. 1074; R.M. Haubourdin et al., De physique existentie dezes lands. Jan Blanken, inspecteur-generaal van de waterstaat (1755-1838), exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum) 1987, p. 139, nos. 144-146

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Model of a Pontoon Bridge, Netherlands, 1821', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244889