Rotterdam To Dismantle Historic Bridge For Jeff Bezos' XL-Sized Yacht

Jeff Bezos’ new superyacht is so oversized that a bridge needs to be dismantled in order for it to be delivered.

What Happened: According to a Bloomberg report, construction on the 417-foot-long sailing yacht, known by the code name Y721, is nearing completion at a manufacturing facility owned by the Alblasserdam, Netherlands-based Oceanco, located next to the port city of Rotterdam.

The mega-vessel that is costing the Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN founder a reported $500 million needs to sail under the Koningshaven in Rotterdam on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. The bridge, a steel structure built in 1927 and rebuilt in the late 1940s after being damaged in World War II, has a central span that can rise to a maximum height of around 130 feet, but the Y721’s masts are taller than that height.

What Happened Next: In order to get the Y721 out into the ocean, the Rotterdam city government has agreed to temporarily disassemble the bridge’s central section this summer to allow the yacht's passage.

Rotterdam taxpayers will not be paying for this project — Oceanco has agreed to absorb the costs of taking the bridge apart and putting it back together, though BBC reports Bezos will foot the bill through the company.

While the city government insisted this was necessary because Y721 represented a major economic project for the region, Stephan Leewis, vice chairman of the GroenLinks Rotterdam political party expressed outrage.

“This man has earned his money by structurally cutting staff, evading taxes, avoiding regulations and now we have to tear down our beautiful national monument?” Leewis tweeted. “That is really going a bridge too far.”

Photo via Shutterstock.