Pancer Viaduct

{{Infobox bridge , bridge_name = Pancer Viaduct , native_name = Wiadukt Pancera w Warszawie , native_name_lang =

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

, image = Warsaw_Mariensztat.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = The Pancer Viaduct and the

Mariensztat Mariensztat () is a historic neighbourhood along the Vistula river in central Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Situated between the riverbank and the UNESCO-protected Old Town, Mariensztat is part of the larger Śródmieście (Downtown) borough and ...

market (1890 to 1905) , official_name = , other_name = , carries = , crosses = , locale = , owner = , maint = , id = , id_type = , website = , architect = Feliks Pancer , designer = , engineering = , winner = , contracted_designer = , design = , material = , length = 657 m , width = 20.7 m , height = , mainspan = 14.9 m , spans = 7 , pierswater = , load = , clearance = , below = , life = , builder = , fabricator = , begin = 1844 , complete = 1846 , cost = , open = , inaugurated = , toll = , traffic = , preceded = , followed = , heritage = , collapsed = 1944 , closed = , replaces = , map_cue = , map_image = , map_alt = , map_text = , map_width = , coordinates = {{coord, 52, 14, 49.02, N, 21, 0, 53.71, E, display=inline,title , extra = , references = The Pancer Viaduct was a viaduct in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

joining

Castle Square Castle Square may refer to: *Castle Square, Sheffield, England *Castle Square, Warsaw Castle Square ( pl, plac Zamkowy) is a historic square in front of the Royal Castle – the former official residence of Polish monarchs – located in Wars ...

to the Kierbedzia Bridge. It was built in 1846, and demolished in 1944 and was replaced by the

Warsaw W-Z Route The Warsaw W-Z Route ( pl, Trasa W-Z, Trasa Wschód–Zachód, East-West Route) is a major thoroughfare in Warsaw, Poland, that joins Praga in the east with the Śródmieście, Warsaw, city center, going through Muranów and out to Wola in the ...

thoroughfare A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highway ...

. It was designed by Felix Pancer and constructed with seven arched vaults made of brick, supported by six

pillars A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

and two

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 ...

. Initially, New Downhill Street (ulica Nowy Zjazd) allowed travel from Castle Square to Dobra Street along the viaduct. The street had the shape of the letter "J", reaching the Vistula, and then turning back sharply and steeply towards Dobra Street. After the construction of the

Alexander Bridge Alexandra Bridge is the name of a locality, and bridges over the Blackwood River in the South West of Western Australia. The locality had a range of groups of people from the area involved in sports clubs, usually from communities very close suc ...

(commonly called the Kierbedzia Bridge) in 1864, New Downhill Street running over the Pancer Viaduct became the main artery leading from the left-bank of Warsaw to

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

on the right-bank. Tram tracks were on the viaduct from the very beginning. Initially it was a horse-drawn tram line belonging to the railway, which was built to connect the Praga

broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...

line to the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

of the Warsaw-Vienna line. This became the nucleus of the

tram network A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

in Warsaw. The original plans for the Kierbedzia Bridge included a rail line to perform this function but the rail part of this plan was abandoned. The viaduct was blown up after the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

. Retreating German troops blew up the penultimate pillar, causing two adjacent spans to collapse. After the war, there were plans to rebuild the viaduct, but they were abandoned because the significant increase in pedestrian and automobile traffic would have been dangerous for Castle Square and the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

. Under the intersection of

Krakowskie Przedmieście Krakowskie Przedmieście (, literally: ''Cracow Fore-town''; french: link=no, Faubourg de Cracovie), often abbreviated to Krakowskie, is one of the best known and most prestigious streets of Poland's capital Warsaw, surrounded by historic palaces ...

and Miodowa Street a tunnel was built for the W-Z Route which resulted in the need to reduce the road. The Pancer Viaduct was demolished, and a road was built from the tunnel to the Śląsko-Dąbrowski Bridge (which replaced the demolished Kierbedzia Bridge) on new embankments and viaducts. The only surviving part of the viaduct is a plaque commemorating its construction. It can be found in Castle Square, next to fragments of previous versions of

Sigismund's Column Sigismund's Column ( pl, Kolumna Zygmunta), originally erected in 1644, is located at Castle Square, Warsaw, Poland and is one of Warsaw's most famous landmarks as well as the first secular monument in the form of a column in modern history. The ...

. It includes an inscription in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

. Bridges in Warsaw Demolished bridges Buildings and structures in Poland destroyed during World War II