The Ozimek Suspension Bridge ( pl, Most wiszący w Ozimku) is a

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

over the Mała Panew River in

Ozimek Ozimek (german: Malapane; szl, Uoźimek) is a town in Opole County, Opole Voivodeship, Poland, with 8,657 inhabitants (2019). History Ozimek dates back to an early modern period, early modern settlement. It was named both ''Ozimek'' and ''Ma ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Designed by Karl Schottelius and completed in 1827, it is the second oldest wrought iron suspension bridge in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The bridge was manufactured in a local ''Malapane Steelworks'' in Ozimek which supplied bridges to European cities from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Petersburg Petersburg, or Petersburgh, may refer to: Places Australia *Petersburg, former name of Peterborough, South Australia Canada * Petersburg, Ontario Russia *Saint Petersburg, sometimes referred to as Petersburg United States *Peterborg, U.S. Virg ...

. It was constructed between 1825 and 1827 from parts made of 57 tons of wrought iron and 14 tons of steel. Suspended between two towers, on each side of the bridge, are four chain cables which support the span. The deck was made of timber. The bridge was used as a road bridge until 1938; then it continued to be used for

pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...

traffic only. The first extensive renovations of the bridge were carried out between July 2009 and September 2010. During the renovations the entire bridge was taken apart, renewed and put back together again, and its structure strengthened with steel cables.

References

Suspension bridges in Poland Pedestrian bridges in Poland Bridges completed in 1827 Landmarks in Poland Steel bridges Opole County 1827 establishments in Prussia {{Poland-bridge-struct-stub