The bridge was open…

If you thought that standing in a traffic jam is a modern annoyance, then you will not immediately understand that the Wilhelmina Bridge, south of the two locks in the Zaan, used to be called the 'bridge of sighs'. The real bridge of that name leads from the Venetian court to the prison. It wasn't that bad. But the metaphor is well chosen. Because 'waiting for a long time' was a regular part of the day in the middle of the last century if you wanted to cross the Zaan. Besides the Prince Bernhard Bridge, much to the north, the lock complex was the only place where this was possible in Zaandam. Zaandam had already become a busy city well before the Second World War due to the enormous growth in employment, both on the road and on the water. An aerial photograph from 1954 clearly shows the cramped crossing.

Cyclists, cars, but also many pedestrians have to squeeze past two movable bridges behind the beautiful harbor office to reach the other side. While one of the two bridges had to be opened at every turn to let the ships through. That could take a long time because the Wilhelminasluis in particular could already accommodate many ships at that time.

The result is clear: long waiting lines for the bridge.

According to reports in the press, the city council has repeatedly considered a solution to this ever-growing problem. In the end, it was decided, with the support of the government, to build a second bridge in the lock complex: the Beatrix Bridge. The fact that this decision took a long time was mainly due to the necessary demolition and reconstruction of homes and shops. Once the decision was made, things moved quickly. The bridge took only two years to build and was completed in December 1958. The north-east side of the lock complex was connected to the Peperstraat, but the north-west side was the location of the very full and bustling Center area. In the end, the route went straight through De Gruyter's grocery shop and unfortunately also the lock keeper's house on the northern quay of the Wilhelmina lock had to make way (see the aerial photo).

The first reports about the necessary construction of a second bridge are from well before the war of 1940-45, so the wait has been very long. For some much too long, as shown by the many police reports in the newspapers from Zaandam in which people were fined for cycling past the queue and standing in the front of the barriers.

Yet it is not all doom and gloom with those bridges over the Zaan. The good news was that those waiting could satisfy their hunger at Ad and Jopie Kok's chip shop, next to the Port Office. This was the first place in Zaandam where chips and fries were sold. A cone of fries cost a quarter, piccalilli 5 cents and mayonnaise 10 cents.

Lock keeper