The Levensau High Bridge (german: Levensauer Straßen- und Eisenbahnhochbrücke ; short: ''Levensauer Hochbrücke'') is a high level

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

that spans the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

. Built in 1894 it is the oldest bridge crossing the

. A second bridge nearby, opened 1984, is referred to as ''Levensau Motorway Bridge'' (German: ''Levensauer Schnellstraßenbrücke'').

Previous history

The lower section of the small river ''Levensau'' was extended between 1777 and 1784 to become part of the

Eider Canal The Eider Canal (also called the Schleswig-Holstein Canal) was an artificial waterway in southern Denmark (later northern Germany) which connected the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of the rivers Eider and Levensau. Constructed between 1 ...

. Between 1887 and 1895 the Eider Canal was further extended and straightened to become part of the Kiel Canal (then ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal''). The extended canal necessitated a

fixed link 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 ...

for the Kiel–Flensburg railway as well as the principal road from

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...

to Eckernförde. Historic pictures
Being a landmark on the Kiel canal, the bridge was depicted on postcards and also used as a popular background for pictures of ships transiting the canal. File:Levensauer Hochbrücke (Kiel 49.402).jpg, The towers of the bridge, postcard from 1895 File:Levensauer Hochbrücke (um 1900).jpg, The bridge ca. 1900 File:SMS Furst Bismarck.jpg, Armoured cruiser
SMS Fürst Bismarck, 1909 File:SMS Dresden German Cruiser LOC 16727.jpg, Light cruiser
SMS Dresden, ca. 1912 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-13833, Linienschiff "Schleswig-Holstein".jpg, Battleship

SMS Schleswig-Holstein SMS ''Schleswig-Holstein'' () was the last of the five pre-dreadnought s built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship, named for the province of Schleswig-Holstein, was laid down in the Germaniawerft dockyard in Kiel in August 1905 and co ...

, 1932 File:AlteWeserTurm&Hubinsel NOKanal.jpg, Components of the
″ Alte Weser″ lighthouse,
ca. 1961

Design and construction

Construction of the bridge took 1 years. Work on the abutments was started in June 1893 and bricklaying lasted until end of that year. On top of the abutments the bridge featured four towers by architect

Hermann Muthesius Adam Gottlieb Hermann Muthesius (20 April 1861 – 29 October 1927), known as Hermann Muthesius, was a German architect, author and diplomat, perhaps best known for promoting many of the ideas of the English Arts and Crafts movement within German ...

. The scaffolding that supported the steel elements during construction was erected from November 1893 and assembly of the steel construction started in May 1894. The bridge was inaugurated by

Emperor Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...

in December 1894. Originally the carriageway was designed in such a way that it could not be used by road and rail traffic simultaneously - if a train approached, the bridge was closed for cars and lorries. In the course of a first modification a barrier between road and railway was installed, however this limited the width of the road to so that lorries were unable to pass each other on the bridge. Furthermore, the pedestrian way was only wide. In 1954, the bridge was extensively reworked to allow for independent use by road, rail and pedestrians. The towers were torn down and the carriageway was enlarged.

Replacement

In 1984 a four lane road bridge was opened for road traffic, taking over the role as main canal crossing for the Kiel–Schleswig road (route 76). The current bridge is still used for the railway and local road traffic including bicycles. Its span is too short for the canal expansion to a width of . In 2009 the cost estimate for the replacement stood at 42 million Euros. The replacement of the old bridge with a substitute was decided in 2018. The replacement was also deemed necessary due to technical reasons. However, in addition to taking the geological condition of the subsoil into consideration the project also has to respect environmental aspects (for instance the presence of bats). The project itself with a number of illustrations and some information in English is presented by its engineers. There is also a direct webcam displaying the bridge and the current construction zone.

Bat habitat

Inside the old brick abutments a mixed colony of roughly 5,000 bats hibernate. The colony is protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora,

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

, and includes Microbats, Common nocturles, Daubenton bats and Natterer bats. The population was examined by scientists of the

Kiel University Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

and is considered the largest in Northern Europe.

Gallery

Contemporary pictures
The Levensau Motorway Bridge, built in 1984, can be seen on some of the newer pictures File:Levensauer Hochbruecke.jpg, The bridge from the west, 2005 File:Levensauer Hochbrücke - More Steel 6.jpg, Detail of the bridge, 2011 File:Alte Levensauer Bruecke.jpg, View across the bridge, seen from the southern side File:Levensauer Hochbrücke Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (49916346372).jpg, Old and new bridge in 2019 File:Levensauer Hochbrücke Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (49916349732).jpg, The old tower (southern side) will be maintained as bat habitat, despite the reconstruction (2019) File:Levensauer Hochbrücke Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (49916046981).jpg, A

Container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

with both bridges File:2017-06-11 KATHARINA SCHEPERS im Kiel-Canal vor Levensauer Hochbrücke (2068).jpg, Levensau Motorway Bridge and Levensau High Bridge

References

{{Reflist Railway bridges in Germany Buildings and structures in Schleswig-Holstein Kiel Canal