King Willem Alexander Bridge

After the small port in the inner city of Breda in The Netherlands was built, there was a strong need to provide access to personal and recreational crafts. However, access was limited by the height of the Tram Bridge at Academy Lane. The city decided to add height to the Tram Bridge as part of city improvement projects.

After reconstruction, the Tram Bridge was renamed King Willem Alexander Bridge and the wall below the bridge was engraved with a poem by Yvonne Né (9-6-2014), a tradition in Breda. The bridge was revealed during a grand opening by Major van der Velder in 2014.

Since the City of Breda was not satisfied with the quality of the old lighting of the King Willem Alexander Bridge, they were looking to replace it with a new LED lighting system. They approached our Color Kinetics Certified System Integrator, Livingprojects, for lighting advice.

Livingprojects proposed that Color Kinetics Vaya Free Form be used on the handrail, and to illuminate the poem by Yvonne Né to make it visible at night.

The biggest challenge for this project was to place the luminaires in the profiles of the handrail. The profiles had to be installed in a secure way to keep them intact. They also had to be placed in such a manner that would enable easy access for routine maintenance. First, the handrail had to be disassembled, then the profiles had to be placed, and lastly, Vaya Free Form was installed.

The result is stunning. The bridge now provides safe passage and illuminates the poetry on the wall below so passers-by can enjoy it even in the dark.