Queen Emma Bridge: The Swinging Old Lady of Curacao

Glimpses of Curacao's Queen Emma Bridge, a Pontoon Bridge which is affectionately called "The Swinging Old Lady of Curacao" and the City of Willemstad, Capital of Curacao. This bridge connects Punda and Otrobanda districts of Curacao on either side of St. Anna Bay. It was built in 1888 by Leonard Burlington Smith and named after Queen Emma
(1890-1898). The defining elements of this Bridge are its 16 floating Pontoon Boats. "The Swinging Old Lady" swings open using two powerful ship motors, allowing ships to access the port. It can be seen in this video that this bridge has opened up and is lying parallel to the harbour to allow ships to pass through. While this bridge is lying parallel to the harbour, one can see two Ferries transporting people to either side of the bridge. Later on it can be seen that the bridge is slowly swinging back to connect the two sides of the Bay and the waiting people on the Otrobanda side are rushing to cross over to the Punda side of the bridge. 26 March, 2012.