On the Kocher Viaduct (german: Kochertalbrücke) near

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

in Germany the Autobahn 6 crosses the

Kocher The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...

valley between

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

and Nuremberg. With its maximum height of 185m above the valley bottom, it is the highest

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

in Germany, and was also the bridge with the tallest pillars in the world before the Millau Viaduct, France was completed in 2004. The nine spans of this prestressed concrete

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...

cover a length of 1128m, the individual span lengths being 81m for the outer two and 138m for the remaining seven. Pillar height varies from 40m to 178m. The bridge table is 31m wide. Construction was from 1976 to 1979. A museum in the village of

Geislingen am Kocher Geislingen may refer to two towns in Baden-Württemberg, Germany: * Geislingen an der Steige, district of Göppingen * Geislingen, Zollernalbkreis Geislingen is a town in the Zollernalbkreis district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situate ...

below the bridge (visits by prior appointment) not only tells the bridge's story but also displays dinosaur fossils found during the construction of the motorway.

References

*A. Linse: ''Kochertalbrücke-Entwürfe einer Großbrücke''. In: ''Bauingenieur'', Jahrgang 1978, S. 453–463.
Höchste deutsche Talbrücke: Kochertalbrücke
Buildings and structures in Baden-Württemberg Bridges completed in 1979 Road bridges in Germany Viaducts in Germany {{Germany-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References