Drone Footage: 'Disappearing' bridge carries boats across Dutch motorway

The bridge that's double Dutch! Aqueduct goes OVER motorway which sinks below the surface of a lake in Holland.
The Veluwemeer Aqueduct in the town of Harderwijk was built in 2002 to allow cars to travel under the water
New drone footage shows the optical illusion of cars disappearing before reemerging as boats sail acrossShow more

The road descends below the water level which is supported by concrete and steel iron piles

A Dutch aqueduct which goes over a motorway in an incredible feat of engineering has been captured in surreal drone footage which appears to show cars disappearing into the water before they emerge seconds later.

The Veluwemeer Aqueduct in the town of Harderwijk allows boats to sail over the 80ft bridge while cars speed along underneath them.

The remarkable structure was opened in 2002 and connected the mainland of the Netherlands to Flevoland, the largest artificial island in the world.

Drone footage has been captured by Rutger den Hertog, showing the optical illusion as the cars appear to vanish under the water.

The unique underpass is used by around 28,000 cars a day.

The aqueduct is made up of 22,000 cubic metres of concrete to support the weight of the water and boats above the motorway below.

The 10ft deep bridge also has pedestrian walkways beneath and designated cycle lanes but the water above never spills on to the passing traffic below.

For most of the motorway, the road is raised above the water level by a series of artificial embankments.

But for the 56ft span of the aqueduct, the road plunges under the lake's surface.

During planning, drawbridges, tunnels and ferries were considered as options to allow the road to cross over the lake which helps regulate water levels and provide a nature reserve for water birds.

But instead, engineers decided on an unusual solution by building the short aqueduct out of concrete and steel sheet piles.

It was deemed inefficient and unrealistic to use a drawbridge or ferry to stop the flow of traffic on the busy road, while a tunnel would have been even more expensive than the £45million needed for the aqueduct.

Rutger, 22, who lives in a small town called Ouderkerk aan den IJssel, said: 'I'm always looking for special and different spots or places to take photos and videos.