Old Rhine Bridge (Constance)
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Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
spans the
Seerhein The Seerhein ("Lake Rhine") is a river about four kilometres long, in the basin of Lake Constance. It is the outflow of the Upper Lake Constance and the main tributary of the Lower Lake Constance. The water level of the lower lake is about 30&n ...
. It is a combined road and railway bridge. In addition to one track of the
High Rhine Railway The High Rhine Railway (german: Hochrheinbahn) is the Deutsche Bahn railway line from Basel to Singen. It is also part of the tri-national S-Bahn Basel and referenced as . It was built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways as part of the Bad ...
at kilometer 413.5, it carries the , the road that connects the borough of
Petershausen Petershausen is a municipality in the district of Dachau in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Petershausen is located in the valley of the Glonn with extensive floodplains. Much of the area outside of Petershausen is part of a nature preserve. Histo ...
with the city centre. The road bridge carries two lanes into the city center and three lanes in the other direction. Additionally, there is a bicycle lane in both directions on the left (as seen from the city centre) and a sidewalk on the right. In the 19th century, distance markers were placed along the Rhine; they start counting kilometers at this bridge.


History

The first bridge over the
Seerhein The Seerhein ("Lake Rhine") is a river about four kilometres long, in the basin of Lake Constance. It is the outflow of the Upper Lake Constance and the main tributary of the Lower Lake Constance. The water level of the lower lake is about 30&n ...
was built by the
Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
at
Gottlieben Gottlieben is a municipality in the district of Kreuzlingen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Gottlieben is first mentioned around the end of the 10th century as ''Gotiliubon''. It was originally part of the land owned by the Bis ...
. Since the medieval trade routes to northern Italy, France and Eastern Europe crossed in Constance, it is assumed that a wooden bridge existed below Constance before the 10th century. The construction of a wooden pile bridge in the flight of around 1200 CE is documented. A mill was built into the bridge in 1418 or 1427 or 1437, because the bridge piles held back the water of the Upper lake and increased the 30 cm difference in water level between the Upper and Lower lake. A lack of stability led to the bridge over the Rhine being demolished and reconstructed around 1540. The new bridge was completed in 1544. It consisted of a covered wooden bridge, based on double pillars, connected at both sides to a stone
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 ...
and a
draw bridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveab ...
. A mill complex with a
weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
completed the structure. The wooden bridge superstructure, including the mills, were destroyed several times by fire and rebuilt, in at least 1548 and 1675. It was destroyed by fire for the last time in 1856. In 1857, the states surrounding Lake Constance decided not to rebuild the weir, because it was regarded as the cause of the extreme high water conditions around the Upper Lake.Werner Konold: "Die Regulierung des Bodensees: eine alte Geschichte", in: ''Der Rhein'', Regional Headquarters for political education in Baden-Württemberg, magazine: ''Der Bürger im Staat'', issue 2/2000
/ref> Until the new bridge was ready, a temporary wooden bridge allowed travellers to cross the Seerhein.


Bridge of 1860

To ensure the largest possible flow cross-section of the Seerhein, the new bridge was built 60 m upriver. It had three long spans of 42.6 m each. In addition to the road, it carried the
Baden Mainline The Baden main line (german: Badische Hauptbahn) is a German railway line that was built between 1840 and 1863. It runs through Baden, from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Offenburg, Freiburg, Basle, Waldshut-Tiengen, Waldshut, Schaffhausen an ...
. Construction Councillor Robert Gerwig from Baden designed the bridge and led the construction team. The Gebrüder Benckiser company from
Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany. It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the nickname "Goldstadt" ("Golden City") ...
built the sub- and superstructures, starting in October 1858. The road bridge was opened to traffic on 3 December 1860. The double-track railway bridge entered service as the Baden Mainline was opened on 15 June 1863. Construction costs were . Due to increasing traffic loads of the trains, one railway track had to be shut down in 1873. At the time of
Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, the structure was renamed '' Horst-Wessel-bridge''.


Bridge of 1938

To increase the efficiency of the Rhine bridge, the city of Konstanz decided in co-operation with the highway department of the day, and the
Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
, to fundamentally rebuild the bridge. The spans were unchanged, but the bridge was widened by about 50%. The Ed. Züblin company from Stuttgart was awarded the contract to build the substructure. Construction work began in November 1936. After a 190-meter-long temporary bridge was built downstream, the road bridge sections were taken apart, with the railway remaining in operation, albeit under restrictions. The superstructure of the old bridge, as well as the substructure, abutments and pillars were disassembled down to the water line. In the shelter of a
sheet pile Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to ...
enclosed pit, timber piles with lengths of 18 to 20 m were driven into the river bottom, the abutments were extended downstream and the pillars were widened. New abutments were then built, using concrete with exposed brickwork from granite from Waldulm. The pillars were encased in concrete in the shelter of the sheet pile enclosed pit. The contract for the steel superstructure was awarded to the M.A.N. company from Mainz-Gustavsburg. The bridge sections were constructed in the factory in Mainz-Gustavsburg and transported by rail to the site where they were hoisted in place using a
gantry crane A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...
and
rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...
ted together. The new bridge was inaugurated on 9 October 1938.


1957 widening

In the
Second World War 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 ...
, the Rhine Bridge remained intact. In the years 1956-57 the roadway was widened to meet the increased traffic in the city. For this, the corridor was used that had been reserved for the second railway track in 1938. This was possible because the Bundesbahn had abandoned its plans to have two tracks connected to the Konstanz main railway station. To further relieve the now over 70-year-old road bridge, a second bridge was built. This was opened in 1980.


Construction


1860 bridge

The arch bridge was in total 17.85 m wide. It carried two railroad tracks and a 5.4 m wide road on the downstream side, plus sidewalks on both sides. The 127.8 m long structure had three spans of 42.6 m each. The superstructure consisted of four solid-walled, wrought-iron arched girders across each span. Statues of Bishops Konrad and
Gebhard of Constance Gebhard of Constance ( la, Gebhardus Constantiensis; german: Gebhard von Konstanz; 949 995 AD) was a bishop of Constance from 979 until 995. He founded the Benedictine abbey of Petershausen in 983. Regarded as a Christian saint, his feast day is ...
and Duke Berthold, Duke of Zähringen and Grand Duke
Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...
stood on the four pillars. The latter two were sculpted by
Hans Baur Hans Baur (19 June 1897 – 17 February 1993) was Adolf Hitler's pilot during the political campaigns of the early 1930s. He later became Hitler's personal pilot and leader of the ''Reichsregierung'' squadron. Apprehended by the Soviet Union a ...
.


1938 bridge

The total length of the new bridge is again 127.8 m, but this one is 26.95 m wide. The roadway was widened to 10.0 m. This bridge has separate superstructures for the road, the railway and the non-motorized lanes. The
piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...
and
abutments An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...
for the railway bridge were designed to carry two single-track superstructures, of which only the eastern one has been implemented. Viewed in the downstream direction, the first superstructure is the pedestrian walkway, the second is the railway bridge, then comes a four-lane road bridge, with a console carrying a bike path mounted on the western carrier. In the longitudinal direction, the spans consist of continuous beams. Each bridge had two steel girders with variable height and a horizontal top flange design, which was located above the roadway. The bottom flange rests on the pillars and curves with a radius of about 100 m. In 1957, a third major carrier was inserted in the gap between the rail and road bridges. It bears the eastern road bridge deck.


References and sources

* Hans-Wolfgang Scharf:' 'Eisenbahn-Rheinbrücken in Deutschland'', EK-Verlag, Freiburg, 2003, .


Footnotes

{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2012 Bridges over the Rhine Bridges in Baden-Württemberg