The Railway Bridge ( lv, Dzelzceļa tilts) is a bridge that crosses the

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

river in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, the capital of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. The first iron railway bridge in Riga, over 600 ftm long, was erected in 1871–1872 for the

Riga–Jelgava Railway The Riga–Jelgava Railway is a long, gauge railway built in the 19th century to connect the cities of Riga and Jelgava. In 1872, an extension was built from Jelgava to Mažeikiai, which connected Riga–Jelgava Railway to the Libau–Romny Railw ...

. The new bridge was inaugurated 1914, shelled twice, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1917 and

World War II 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 ...

in 1944, and was rebuilt both times. The bridge is nowadays the only railway bridge in Riga. The bridge will be duplicated as part of the new

Rail Baltica Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is a high-speed railway under construction between Warsaw, Poland and Tallinn, Estonia, with further connections to Finland via Baltic Sea cruiseferries or the proposed Helsinki–Tallinn Tunne ...

line through Riga. File:Riga old iron bridge.jpg, Iron Bridge, erected 1871-1872 File:Riga railway bridge inauguration.jpg, Inauguration of first bridge in 1914 File:German troops crossing Daugava.jpg, German troops crossing the shelled bridge 1917 File:Vistas desde la iglesia de San Pedro, Riga, Letonia, 2012-08-07, DD 01.JPG, Bridge today, pylons from former Iron Bridge still visible

References

Bridges in Riga Crossings of the Daugava River Railway bridges in Latvia Bridges completed in 1955 {{Latvia-bridge-struct-stub