The Van Brienenoordbrug shuts 22:00 to 05:00 for two nights: southbound ramps 26 and 25 close at 21:00

The bridge that carries the A16 over the Maas on Rotterdam's east side is shut for the next two nights. Rijkswaterstaat has set the closures from Wednesday 9 September 22:00 to Thursday 10 September 05:00, and from Thursday 10 September 22:00 to Friday 11 September 05:00. The A16 is closed in both directions from the Ridderster junction up to and including the Van Brienenoordbrug, main carriageway and parallel lanes together. The work is a check on whether the bridge's technical installations still function properly. It is an inspection rather than a rebuild, which is why only the night hours go and daytime traffic runs as normal. This is the A16's main crossing of the Maas, carrying most of the north-south traffic on Rotterdam's eastern side, so the two nights reach well beyond the neighbourhoods either side of it and take in anyone driving through the city after dark.

The part that catches people out is not 22:00, it is that the ramps close earlier. Southbound, ramps 26 and 25 shut at 21:00 and ramp 24 at 23:00; northbound, ramp 24 also shuts at 21:00. If you plan around the bridge closing at 22:00, you may find the slip road already gone by the time you reach it.

• Closure windows: 9 September 22:00 to 10 September 05:00, and 10 September 22:00 to 11 September 05:00, both directions of the A16. (source 1)
• Extent: from the Ridderster junction up to and including the Van Brienenoordbrug, main carriageway and parallel lanes. (source 1)
• Ramps run on their own clock: southbound 26 and 25 at 21:00, 24 at 23:00; northbound 24 at 21:00. (source 1)
• Diversion: the Rotterdam ring via the Beneluxtunnel, then the A20, A4 and A15. Rijkswaterstaat puts the extra travel time at up to 30 minutes. (source 1)
• Cyclists and pedestrians can still cross, but in groups, with a wait of up to 30 minutes. (source 1)
• Shipping: the bridge will not be opened for tall vessels during the work, and a separate notice to mariners follows. (source 1)

The two thirty-minute figures are not the same thing. Driving round is up to 30 minutes; crossing by bike is a wait of up to 30 minutes. So the line that cyclists can still cross does not mean cyclists are unaffected. The number you can actually work out for yourself is your departure time: subtract 21:00 from the hour you meant to leave, and the minutes left are how long those ramps stay open to you. If the answer is negative, do not aim for your usual slip road, take the ring instead.

The second figure worth putting in yourself is the distance. Rijkswaterstaat gives a time ceiling of 30 minutes but no kilometres, because the detour depends on where you start. Put your destination into a navigation app, look up the distance for your normal run across the bridge on the A16, then for the A15 to the Beneluxtunnel and on via the A4 and A20, and subtract one from the other. Traffic is thin at night so the real delay is usually under the ceiling, but the ramp timings are fixed.

Who this actually reaches: night-shift workers, anyone with an early flight, and people living around Ridderkerk, Capelle aan den IJssel or Krimpen who work on the other side of Rotterdam. The bridge reopens at 05:00, so anything starting after that is untouched. What has to move is whatever sat between 21:00 and 05:00.

Hokimi field note: these two nights are an inspection rather than a rebuild, which is why only the night hours are closed and daytime traffic runs as normal. Check the Rijkswaterstaat planned-works page before you set off if you want to confirm the night is going ahead as scheduled.