The Hochmoselbrücke (''High Moselle Bridge'') is a major road bridge, that crosses the valley of the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

south of Ürzig and north of Zeltingen-Rachtig in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. It was opened to the public traffic on 21 November 2019. The bridge – part of a road connection, the Hochmoselübergang (''High Moselle Crossing''), incorporating a rerouted stretch of Bundesstrasse (''Federal Highway'') 50 – is intended to facilitate the flow of traffic between Belgian and Dutch ports and the greater Frankfurt area.

Construction

A proposal for the highway and bridge was first made three decades ago for strategic reasons during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The project was reactivated to link the Frankfurt area, specifically the Hahn airport, to the Belgian and Dutch harbors with updated plans drawn in the early 21st century. The plan called for a 1702.4 m long steel box

beam bridge Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout the support, hence their structural type is known as '' simply supported''. The simplest beam ...

that crosses the river at a maximum height of 158 m. The width of the bridge will be 29.0 m to allow four-lane traffic. Ten monolithic pylons made from concrete will support the bridge; their height varies between 15 and 150 m. The estimated costs are 270 million euros. Cost increases caused headlines. The costs of the entire project amount to at least 483 million euros, with the bridge accounting for 175 million euros. The project was completed in November 2019.

Opposition

Opposition to the project is based on questions of its economical necessity and the negative ecological impact on the Mosel wine region. It was suggested that existing highway connections between the Belgian and Dutch harbors and Frankfurt were adequate, and the proposed highway with its bridge would not present a shortcut and thus would not be economically advantageous. More importantly, perhaps, was the concern that the "ungainly" bridge would destroy a historical cultural section of major significance within the

Mosel wine region Mosel () is one of 13 German wine regions (''Weinbaugebiete'') for quality wines (''Qualitätswein'', formerly ''QbA'' and ''Prädikatswein''), and takes its name from the Mosel River (french: Moselle; Luxembourgish: ''Musel''). Before 1 August 2 ...

that some of the finest and most historic vineyards in Germany. A potential change in the local ecosystem would affect the premier riesling areas of the ''Wehlener Sonnenuhr'', ''Graacher Himmelreich'' and ''Ürziger Würzgarten''. International wine experts, among them Hugh Johnson,

Jancis Robinson Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...

and

Stuart Pigott Stuart Pigott (born 26 May 1960 in Orpington, Kent) is a British wine critic and author who has lived in Berlin since 1993. Pigott mostly writes in German, and focuses on German wine. He writes for the specialist magazines ''Feinschmecker'' an ...

, opposed the project and feared that the unique microclimate responsible for the Mosel rieslings would be impacted.

Gallery

Literature

Joachim Naumann: ''Strelasundquerung und Hochmoselübergang“ – Description of the project (in German) at the Brückbausymposium Dresden, 2003

References

External links

Rheinland-Pfalz Government presentation

Porr group webpage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hochmoselbrucke Road bridges in Germany Bridges completed in 2019 Beam bridges Steel bridges in Germany 2018 establishments in Germany Transport in Rhineland-Palatinate