The Germersheim Rhine Bridge (''Rheinbrücke Germersheim'') is a two-track railway bridge that crosses the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

near

Germersheim Germersheim () is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim (district), Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsru ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

. It forms part of the Germersheim–Bruchsal railway.

Bridge of 1877

In 1871, the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

, which was located on the right (eastern) bank of the Rhine, and the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

, which governed the Palatinate on the left (western) bank, agreed to build a railway line from

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

to Germersheim, including a bridge over the Rhine. After lengthy discussions in 1874, it was decided to build the Rhine crossing north of the Germersheim fortress. Construction began in 1875 and the bridge was formally opened on 15 May 1877. The bridge was 302 m long and consisted of three steel arch spans with the rail tracks lying below. The superstructures had a width of 7.6 m, each span had a length of 87.6 m and they carried two tracks. The bridge was strengthened from 1927 to 1930 in response to increased traffic loads. German troops destroyed the bridge by blowing up of a

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

and an

abutment 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 ...

on 24 March 1945 at 10.20 am.

Bridge of 1967

Since

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

did not consider the Rhine Bridge necessary for operational reasons, it was not rebuilt immediately after the Second World War. It was not until 1965 that Deutsche Bundesbahn began the construction of a new Rhine crossing and it was opened on 23 October 1967. Funding was provided by the Federal Defence Ministry in response to the strategic interests of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. A three-span, pillar-free steel truss bridge with a through beam in the longitudinal direction was built by a joint venture of MAN Werk Gustavsburg and the Aug. Klönne company. The 268 m-long construction has 66 m-long outer spans and a central span of 136 m. The truss structure with parallel beams and an underlying deck has a distance between girders of 11 m in the side spans and 10.46 m in the main span across the ship channel. The height of the truss system is 10.0 m, the total height is 11.5 m and the distance between the main girders is 9.5 m. The diagonals and upper struts of the truss holders have 0.7 m wide box cross sections, with heights between 0.6 m and 0.76 m. The wooden sleepers are mounted directly on two continuous longitudinal beams. On the western bank, the truss bridge is attached to a 22 m-long approach bridge of prestressed concrete on a separating pillar. Rheinbruecke_Germersheim

Due to the curved tracks that follow the bridge, the tracks on the bridge are 15 cm off-centre. With the lessening of military tensions the strategic interest in the bridge declined after 1989 and the southern track was closed in 1994. it was electrified together with the Graben-Neudorf–Germersheim section of the Bruhrain Railway as part of the extension of the

Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. The S-Bahn operates over 437 km of route in the ...

at the end of 2011.

Sources

Notes

References

* H.-J. Schröter: ''Die Eisenbahnbrücke über den Rhein bei Germersheim''. In:''Der Stahlbau 38'', Jahrgang 1969, p. 22–24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Germersheim Rhine Bridge Railway bridges in Germany Bridges in Baden-Württemberg Bridges in Rhineland-Palatinate Bridges over the Rhine Bridges completed in 1877 1877 establishments in Germany Bridges completed in 1967 1967 establishments in Germany Germersheim (district)