ALL TWELVE LANES!!!

Just my luck today! How did I know just at what moment to leave the house?!?

This was taken on the Brienenoord Bridge, Rotterdam, on my way to work. It spans the river which has had a huge influence on Rotterdam for centures -- the Maas (Meuse in French; actually, if you drive to Verdun in France, you'll see the same river but in a sleepier, more rural, setting). All twelve lanes started to rise just as I drove onto the bridge. Many bridges here in The Neth open this way to allow TALL seagoing craft to sail through. The moment I knew I was lucky -- we were stuck anyway -- I took the camera, locked the car, and ran down the lanes to the barriers. Finally the chance to shoot this at close range! Had I been stuck a kilometer further away, I wouldn't have done it on acccount of the cold. And it was -- still is -- cold.

Anyway, here you can see the tall crane perched on the barge (you can't see the barge) floating eastwards 'under' the bridge. On either side of this temporary gap, massive traffic jams have formed, and I've sat out some of them, but never this close before. 'The bridge was open' is an oft-quoted excuse of students coming in late to class. I've sometimes wondered if anyone ever tried to 'race the barrier' before the bridge opened, but you'd be a bit of a very lucky fool to get away with it.

It won't be the last time I'll be blipping this area, that's for sure.