Vilvoorde Viaduct, Concrete viaduct in Vilvoorde, Belgium.
The Vilvoorde Viaduct is a reinforced concrete road bridge in Vilvoorde, just north of Brussels, crossing roads, the Zenne river, and the Brussels-Scheldt Maritime Canal. It runs for about 1700 m (5,580 ft), rises to roughly 35 m (115 ft), and carries a roadway about 40 m (131 ft) wide.
The viaduct was completed in 1977 as the last section of the Brussels ring road, closing a motorway loop that had been under construction for decades. Its completion finally connected the northern and southern parts of the ring around the capital.
The viaduct structure represents a significant advancement in Belgian civil engineering, demonstrating the capabilities of modern construction techniques.
The viaduct is part of the Brussels ring road and can be seen from below by walking or driving near the canal or the Zenne river. Getting underneath gives the clearest sense of the structure's scale, with the rows of concrete pillars visible along its full length.
Although the viaduct is known as a concrete structure, its central section of around 880 m (2,890 ft) is actually made of steel, spanning the canal and river crossings. Using two different materials within a single bridge of this kind was relatively unusual for Belgium at the time it was built.
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