Hechtel-Eksel (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Hechtel-Eksel is installing 52 sections for 2,250-meter bicycle bridges in the Dommel Valley. Zoë Debbaut and local municipalities ensure safe, elevated cycle paths linking Eksel and Kleine-Brogel.
As VRT News reported, construction work is underway in Hechtel-Eksel, in the province of Limburg, Belgium, in the Dommel Valley. Workers are installing 52 sections for 2 new bicycle bridges. Each bridge will be approximately 250 meters in length. Cranes are lifting and placing the pre-fabricated sections.
How is Hechtel-Eksel transforming cycling with 2 floating bridges?
The new bicycle bridges in Hechtel-Eksel are technically bridges, but they function more like elevated cycle paths above the ground.
“They are cycle paths in the irrigation area of the Dommel Valley,”
says Zoë Debbaut of the Roads and Traffic Agency. For the safety of road users and construction crews, the intersection of Eikelbosstraat and Ekselsebaan will remain closed until the end of the year.
Construction of the cycle paths between Eksel and the centre of Kleine-Brogel is also progressing on schedule. The paths will be 1.90 meters wide on both sides of a 2.5-kilometre stretch. They are separated from the main road by verges, trees, or ditches. The project is carried out in collaboration with the municipalities of Peer, Hechtel-Eksel, Pelt, and Bocholt.
“The works on both the cycle paths and the cycle bridges must be completed by the end of this year,”
Zoe Debbaut adds.
Hechtel-Eksel has previously developed innovative cycling infrastructure projects. In 2020, the city opened the “Cycling through the Trees” elevated path in the Pijnven forest, part of Bosland National Park, allowing cyclists to ride among the treetops.
Earlier, the Dommel Bridges project, connecting Peer and Hechtel-Eksel, saw the construction of 4 high, narrow aluminium bridges over the Dommel River, designed to give cyclists unobstructed views of the valley.
