Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
Taktsang Lhakhang, also known as the “Tiger’s Nest”.
Bhutan • 11 days, 10 nights
Festivals & Temples of Bhutan
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Southern portion of the Prasat Nakhon Luang
Prasat Nakhon Luang
Lenin’s Head, Tsinandali
The Tunnels of Tabor
What hidden tales lie buried beneath?
Pirate Grave, Portland
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
The Codex Gigas (the Devil’s Bible) open to the portrait of the devil.
Codex Gigas: Who Drew the Devil in This Massive Medieval Bible?
about 17 hours ago
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
1 day ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
4 days ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
5 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the Netherlands Leeuwarden Slauerhoffbrug Flying Drawbridge

Slauerhoffbrug Flying Drawbridge

This unique bridge physically lifts a piece of the road into the air to let boats pass by.

Leeuwarden, Netherlands

Added By
Lew Blank
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Slauerhoffbrug as viewed from the canal   Leineabstiegsschleuse/Public Domain
Slauerhoffbrug as viewed from the canal   Leineabstiegsschleuse/Public Domain
Road view of bridge   Erik Tjallinks / CC BY-SA 2.0
Slauerhoffbrug in its erect position   Bert Kaufmann / CC BY-SA 3.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The typical bridge in the Dutch town of Leeuwarden is a bascule bridge: when a boat approaches, one side of the bridge is hoisted up to make a 90 degree angle with the ground until the vessel passes by. This hinged style is consistent with all bridges in the town—except for one.

For reasons unknown, Leeuwarden’s Slauerhoffbrug "Flying Drawbridge" is perhaps the world’s only bridge to physically move the road out of the way by completely dissecting it from the bridge. As sailboats pass by, a massive, multistory pylon hoists a 2,500-square-foot piece of the road into the sky. After the boat passes through, the road is automatically squeezed back into its waiting crevice.

Every day, the Flying Drawbridge is raised and lowered 10 times, a unique process that takes approximately three minutes. Its unique, ingenious design is likely the result of the an effort to find a more efficient and innovative way to part the many bridges throughout the Netherlands.

But the Slauerhoffbrug Flying Drawbridge, named after the Dutch poet J. Slauerhoff, who was born minutes away in Leeuwarden, isn’t just practical. It’s also a work of symbolic art. The giant metal arm that hoists the road up is painted yellow and blue to represent the town's yellow and blue striped flag.

Related Tags

Bridges Architectural Oddities Boats Machines Engineering Architecture

Community Contributors

Added By

lewblank

Edited By

Allen, relizh, Wijilly

  • Allen
  • relizh
  • Wijilly

Published

January 31, 2017

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://twistedsifter.com/2013/10/slauerhoffbrug-flying-drawbridge-leeuwarden-netherlands/
  • http://www.treehugger.com/infrastructure/slauerhoffbrug-flying-drawbridge-why-did-nobody-think.html
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-DFXc6cgDA
Slauerhoffbrug Flying Drawbridge
Slaurhoffbrug (Flying Drawbridge)
Leeuwarden
Netherlands
53.198618, 5.765817
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Uniastate Bears

Bears, Netherlands

miles away

Preserved Mummies of the Hervormde Kerk

Wiuwert, Netherlands

miles away

Eisinga Planetarium

Franeker, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Netherlands

Netherlands

Europe

Places 354
Stories 21

Nearby Places

Uniastate Bears

Bears, Netherlands

miles away

Preserved Mummies of the Hervormde Kerk

Wiuwert, Netherlands

miles away

Eisinga Planetarium

Franeker, Netherlands

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Netherlands

Netherlands

Europe

Places 354
Stories 21

Related Places

  • The High Bridge and Glory Hole.

    Lincoln, England

    High Bridge

    The oldest of the three remaining bridges in England with buildings on top of them.

  • Græshoppebroen (Grasshopper Bridge)

    Karrebæksminde, Denmark

    Græshoppebroen (Grasshopper Bridge)

    This distinctive bug-like bridge is made of recycled horseshoes.

  • Vauxhall bridge “Architechture”

    London, England

    Vauxhall Bridge's Miniature St. Paul's Cathedral

    A tiny replica of the iconic London landmark hides on the side of the steel structure.

  • Kawazu-Nanadaru Loop Bridge.

    Kawazu, Japan

    Kawazu Nanadaru Loop Bridge

    An ingenious solution to a tricky engineering problem, this spiraling bridge takes drivers for a dizzying spin.

  • The Paternoster in Sheffield’s Arts Tower.

    Sheffield, England

    Paternoster Lift

    One of the last doorless, continuously moving elevators still in use in the U.K.

  • Hörnbrücke up

    Kiel, Germany

    Hörnbrücke

    The world's first and only three-segment bascule bridge folds up into the shape of a capital "N" to let boat traffic through.

  • Bailey Island Bridge.

    Harpswell, Maine

    Bailey Island Bridge (Cribstone Bridge)

    An unusually designed bridge from the 1920s was built to withstand the tides and winds of Maine.

  • It moves!

    Stretford, England

    The Barton Swing Aqueduct

    A rotating bridge that carries a little canal over a larger one.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.