The Dutch city of Rotterdam will temporarily dismantle part of a historic bridge so that Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos’ yacht can fit through it, likely this summer.
Bezos’ boat, now called Y721, is being built in the neighboring city of Alblasserdam. It needs to pass through Rotterdam to make it to the North Sea or English channel, but it’s too tall for the Koningshaven Bridge.
The 417-foot-long, 130-foot-high, three-mast boat is being built by Dutch company Oceano and will cost Bezos an estimated $500 million. It will be the world’s biggest sailing yacht, according to Boat International.
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Bezos Will Pay For It
Bezos and Oceano will pay for the steel bridge, known locally as De Hef, to be taken apart. It involves removing the bridge’s middle portion.
De Hef has been named a national landmark. It received a major renovation in 2014 to 2017, and afterward, the city pledged not to dismantle it again.
Rotterdam officials say they’re willing to break that pledge because of the jobs provided by the construction of the boat.
“From an economic perspective, we attach great importance to preserving employment,” Frances van Heijst, the Rotterdam municipality spokeswoman, told The Washington Post, which Bezos owns.
The dismantling will probably take place this summer. And local officials hope the whole process, including putting the bridge back together, can be completed within two weeks, Rotterdam's local authority project leader Marcel Walravens told a local paper, the BBC reports.
Not everyone is enthusiastic about the project. "Tear[ing] down our beautiful national monument" is "a bridge too far," local official Stephan Leewis wrote on Twitter.
