National heritage site De Hef

De Hef (which means lever) is a steel railroad bridge that connects the Noordereiland Island in the river Maas with the Southern district Feyenoord in Rotterdam. The Hef bridge Rotterdam was built in 1877 as a moving swing bridge to connect railroad traffic in the North of the Netherlands with the South. De Hef was part of a long railroad bridge that ran straight through the city of Rotterdam. In 1918, a German steamship ran into the swing bridge and destroyed it. The original lift bridge was replaced by a movable swing bridge which was completed in 1927. De Hef Rotterdam was the first rail bridge of its kind in Western Europe. De Hef is operated by two 60 meter high towers with huge concrete counterweights to lift the bridge deck. This construction allows big ships to pass under the bridge.