Practice English Speaking&Listening with: A huge cycling bridge connecting two tiny Dutch towns

This impressive cycling bridge connects two tiny towns in the Netherlands.

Raamsdonksveer on the one end is home to12,500 people.

The even smaller Geertruidenberg on the other sideof the river...

has a population of around 7,000.

This bridge can serve as yet another exhibit that

impressive cycling infrastructure is ubiquitous in the Netherlands.

When you consider how small the community is here,

it is clear that the bridge is very well used.

The bridge is certainly not new,

it was opened 14 years ago, at the end of 2007.

The Willem Letschertbrug was named after a former mayor

of both these towns,

which are in the same larger municipality.

The cable stayed bridge over the river Donge...

has a main span of 86 meters.

It has one pylon that stands well over 42 meters tall.

18 cables are connected to the pylon to support the bridge deck.

That deck is suspended at 5.6 meters over the water.

This keeps the river navigable for smaller ships.

The approaches of the bridge on each side have their own smaller pillars.

Clearly the bridge has seen 14 years of intensive use.

There is considerable wear and tear on the deck and the railings.

Lighting was done a bit differently all those years ago.

Most modern bridges have led lighting in the railing.

This bridge got lamp posts...

whichare an integral part of the design.