New Suzan Daniel Bridge over Brussels canal to be placed this week

The new Suzan Daniel bridge connecting Brussels’ northern quarter with the Tour & Taxis area, will be placed this week. The canal will be closed to maritime traffic and Quai des Péniches to motorised vehicles from 15 to 18 April to carry out the works.

The main part of the bridge will be placed across the canal – in what promises to be a pretty spectacular operation – on Saturday morning. The bridge is located between the existing Leopold II bridge (at Sainctelette) and the Place des Armateurs crossing. It will span the Quai des Péniches, linking Boulevard Simon Bolivar in the North Quarter to Avenue du Port on the other side.

The 90-metre-long bridge will not be open to car traffic, but will serve pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. It is the first bridge in Brussels of its kind. It has been fitted with tram tracks in anticipation of a new tram route that will be established between Belgica and North Station, via Tour & Taxis.

The guardrails of the bridge will provide lighting after dark, and skylights will allow natural light to reach the docks underneath. Architectural lighting will highlight the arches, suspension cables and piers under the bridge’s deck.

The name of the bridge followed a public inquiry in which nominations were collected and eventually put to a vote. The public chose to name the bridge after Suzan Daniel, who founded Belgium’s first organisation dedicated to LGBTQ rights.

While we’ll be able to see the bridge after this weekend, we won’t be able to use it for quite some time: Additional works to connect both sides of the bridge to land will take until about the end of the year.