Dutch officials dismantling historic bridge so Bezos megayacht can pass through

A historic steel bridge in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, will be partly demolished so that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos can sail his new megayacht through the Maas River, also known as the Meuse River, Agence France-Presse reports. 

The Koningshavenbrug, which locals call De Hef, was first built over the river in 1927 and has served a historic role, especially when it was damaged during the bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940.

The bridge was previously dismantled in 2017 for renovations. The Rotterdam council pledged that year that the bridge would never be dismantled again, Dutch News reported, but Bezos’ new yacht appears to be an exception to that promise.

The new megayacht built for Bezos will be too tall to fit under the bridge when its three large masts are at full height. The boat is being constructed by the Oceano shipyard in Alblasserdam and is expected to be the largest sailing yacht in the world at 127 meters long.

“It is about a ship with high masts which cannot pass through the bridge. The only alternative is to take out the middle section,” said Marcel Walravens, project leader for the dismantling of the bridge, according to Dutch News. 

Walravens said that he hopes the middle section of the bridge will be removed for only one day. However, some disagree that the yacht sail is worth destabilizing the bridge.

“Jobs are important, but there are limits with what you can and should do with our industrial heritage,” Tom Wesselink of local history society Historisch Genootschap Roterodamum, who is opposed to the dismantling, told Dutch News.