A folding bridge: one of the Caribbean's most unusual structures is found on Curacao - Port Attraction

Cruise Travel, July-August, 2003 by Max Hunn, Bea Hunn

If you're lucky enough to be sailing on a moderate-size cruise ship in the Caribbean calling at Willemstad, capital of Curacao, largest island in the Netherlands Antilles, you have an opportunity for a unique experience. When your cruise liner creeps up Santa Ana Bay, the port channel, you encounter Queen Emma, the largest floating bridge in existence.

This pontoon bridge, which folds against the shore to permit seagoing traffic, has been a Curacao landmark since the 19th century, and is still a vital part of the island's commercial structure. It's the quickest and only way to get by foot from the Punda (oldest section) to the newer Otrobanda on the opposite shore. Queen Emma, named for a Dutch queen, is a pontoon bridge with an unusual history and mission as a long, folding bridge capable of opening and closing for ocean-going ships.

The pontoon bridge is not a radical, new idea. They've been used by armies for years under war conditions, and have also been used commercially, mainly as temporary structures. But you don't expect to find a massive, pontoon bridge crossing a narrow ship channel. However, that's the situation at Willemstad, one of the busiest ports in the Caribbean.

Willemstad's inner harbor (seventh largest in the world) is surrounded by protecting hills. Its entrance is spanned by the 400-foot Queen Emma, which must be folded against the Otrobanda shore to allow every ship entry and exit to the harbor. Commercial vessels continue into the hill-protected inner harbor, while moderate-size cruise ships enter and, after turning around, dock on the Otrobanda shore. Megaliners utilize the new cruise pier in deeper water farther up the Caribbean shore in the Rif Fort area.

Your arrival by cruise ship is fascinating. From the upper decks you look down on either the Punda or Otrobanda sections of Willemstad. The scene seems unreal, like a Hollywood setting, but it's authentic, a little bit of Holland in the Caribbean. As your ship passes three- and four-story Dutch colonial buildings with steep, gabled tile roofs and small dormer windows, you spot streets, too narrow for autos, lined with shops.

Starboard, you glimpse the picturesque Penha building, proudly displaying its birth date 1708, and still in commercial use today. Most of the buildings in the Punda date from the 18th and 19th centuries. They're a kaleidoscope of colors ranging from pastel tints to vibrant blues, greens, reds, purples, jades, and buffs in a wide variety of shades. You soon learn the color scheme resulted because an early governor had severe headaches. Legend says he believed his headaches were caused by the sun's brilliant reflections off the traditionally white-painted buildings. The governor is credited with getting a law passed prohibiting the use of white on building exteriors--any color but white was allowed. The legend relates nothing about penalties, but they must have been severe, otherwise there wouldn't be today's rainbow of colors.

The traffic problem caused by the channel separating Willemstad's two sections grew worse after colonial days, especially with the development of motor transportation. Periodically, proposals were made to build a bridge across the narrow waterway. But any plan would have required demolition of many Punda structures to provide space for a bridge, which would have had to arch over the channel to keep from blocking shipping. A lot of discussions were held, but there was no action.

Captain Leonard B. Smith, whose ship brought the first cargo of ice packed in sawdust to the island, suggested a bridge that would float away. (He is also locally famous for introducing a modern freshwater system and for building the island's first power station providing street lighting; he eventually became U.S. consul to Curacao, and has been honored on a Curacao stamp.) In 1888 Captain Smith's floating-bridge idea was adopted, and the first one, 20 feet wide with raised sidewalks on each side to keep the children from falling into the water, was soon constructed.

The bridge was steam-powered and, of course, fees were charged. There was a toll of two cents for pedestrians wearing shoes, 25 cents for vehicles, and 10 cents for each horse; people without shoes crossed free. The tariffs didn't last: Too many people preferred to take off their shoes and cross barefoot--a penny in those days really was important. The bridge has been free ever since, and has been limited to pedestrian traffic following the 1974 completion of the four-lane/185-foot-high Queen Juliana bridge, highest in the Caribbean, farther inland. The current Queen Emma folding bridge, built in 1938 and modified several times since, is now pulled to the Otrobanda shore by an electric winch. It takes half an hour to open and close, and averages 10 to 20 operations a day. Free ferries shuttle pedestrians across the channel when the bridge is open.

Whether you arrive by sea or air, you'll want to cross Curacao's folding bridge as part of your exploration of the historic Punda section. The Queen Emma bridge will provide interesting memories of any visit to this little bit of Holland in the Caribbean.