If the damaged Buda Bridge in Brussels does not reopen soon, the Capital Region's supply of petrol and heating oil will be compromised as it is the only passage to the Port of Brussels for freight traffic from the north.
The Buda Bridge in the Brussels district of Neder-over-Heembeek has been defective since Friday after a large barge collided head-on with the bridge. Normally, the bridge opens regularly for cargo ships but this could not be done last weekend.
On Monday, the cables of the bridge are first disconnected after which the bridge will be towed away. How long that will take is impossible to say at the moment, but the Port of Brussels hopes that shipping can be resumed as soon as possible.
As the only passage to the Port of Brussels for cargo traffic from the north, the bridge allows cargo ships to bring construction materials, containers full of products such as clothes and food, as well as fuel, into Brussels.
Emergency delivery via trucks
If the bridge does not reopen on Monday, supplies to Brussels will be compromised: the supply of petrol and heating oil will be the first to be affected. This concerns petroleum products supplied to petrol stations but also heating oil, which 17% of Brussels residents use to heat their homes.
Companies that import these products work with a three-day supply, but Brussels residents will not immediately be without heating if that supply runs out, Sylvain Godfroid of the Port of Brussels told Bruzz.
First, oil companies will look for other means of transport. "They then quickly look at delivery via trucks," said Godfroid. "But that, compared to a cargo ship, is a much more polluting alternative."
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Additionally, about a dozen vessels have also been stuck since Friday night, but the impact could have been even greater: on average between 10 and 20 boats pass through the port every day, but there were fewer between Christmas and New Year.
The canal is the only way to travel from Antwerp towards Charleroi – especially for heavy cargo ships, which is another reason to reopen the bridge soon.
The Buda Bridge is owned by the Port of Brussels, which is responsible for day-to-day operations, and located at Neder-Over-Heembeek and Haren. It is a lift bridge with a headway of 33 metres that in normal times makes the maritime outer port accessible 24/7.
