The Elster Viaduct near Pirk, part of
Weischlitz municipality, is one of the most unusual motorway
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. The building of this bridge began in 1937, but was stopped in 1940 due to the chaos created by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Since this bridge then was in the restricted area of the
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, construction was not restarted until 1990. In June 1990 preliminary investigations began, and finally in September 1990 the building of the bridge began anew. In August 1993 the bridge was opened to traffic. Federal Motorway 72 (Ger.
Bundesautobahn 72
is a motorway in Germany. Construction of the autobahn started in the 1930s, but was halted by the outbreak of World War II. Due to the division of Germany, a part of the autobahn lay in ruins until after German reunification.
Exit list
...
) now uses the bridge.
Bridges completed in 1993
Buildings and structures in Saxony
Road bridges in Germany
Viaducts in Germany
White Elster
Weischlitz
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