The first railway bridge at Kehl across the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

was opened in May 1861. Since then the bridge has been partially or fully destroyed more than once. The Kehl railway bridge constructed in 1956, was a single track railway bridge between

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

and

Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...

, crossing in the process both the

and the frontier between

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. A replacement double track railway bridge was first used on 10 October 2010 and formally opened in December 2010 in order to permit trains to cross the river more rapidly. The speed limit on the new bridge is 160 km/h (100 mph).

The 1861 bridge

Under the terms of an international convention dated 2 July 1857 between

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

and the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

it was agreed that a railway bridge should be constructed across the Rhine between Kehl and Strasbourg. This would be the first permanent bridge across the

Upper Rhine Upper Rhine ( ; ; kilometres 167 to 529 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between the Middle Bridge, Basel, Middle Bridge in Basel, Switzerland, and the Rhine knee in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, Germany. It is surrounded by the Upper Rhine P ...

Strasbourg - Pont du Chemin de fer sur le Rhin carte postale 1920

The structure would comprise a twin track bridge long, with a central truss section of . On each side of the bridge would be a

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

with of usable diameter. Work began in 1858, the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est taking responsibility for the foundations. In order to sink the piles into the Rhine mud it was necessary to construct protective caissons extending below the river level. The steel superstructure was delivered and assembled by "Gebrüder Benckiser" ''(Benckiser Brothers)'', a

Pforzheim Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, 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 ...

company. The superstructure weighed approximately 1000 tons, and was assembled on the west (Strasbourg) bank of the river on a site long. The bridge became operational on 11 May 1861. The outbreak in 1870 of the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

saw the turntable on the eastern (Kehl) end of the bridge dynamited. Until a new steel structure could be erected in 1874, a provisional timber structure was put in place. As a result of the war the frontier moved: between

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War: Battle of Bapaume – Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

and

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...

both ends of the bridge were located in and wholly owned by

, but in 1919 it was stipulated under the terms of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

that the bridge would be wholly owned by

. This was consistent with France's

military occupation Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...

, under the terms of the treaty, of the formerly German Rhineland: the occupation continued in various forms until 1930. By this time a project had reached the planning stage to replace the bridge which by now was more than 75 years old, but no such replacement would be built till well after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. With the outbreak of war in the late summer of 1939, French troops blew up the bridge's main western support. Until September 1940 the bridge could nevertheless be used courtesy of temporary repairs undertaken. In November 1944 German troops blew up the bridge's main eastern support, effectively destroying the bridge in its totality.

Replacing the 1861 bridge: the 1956 bridge

In July 1945 U.S. engineering troops constructed a military kit based provisional single-track bridge. On 30 January 1953 an agreement was signed between

and

concerning permanent bridges and transit over the Rhine on the Franco-German frontier (''Abkommen über die festen Brücken und Fähren über den Rhein an der deutsch-französischen Grenze''). This included provision for new railway bridges connecting Kehl and Strasbourg. Two separate single-track bridges were envisaged, one for each direction of travel, but a second bridge of this nature was never actually built. Work began on the first single track rail bridge in May 1954. This is a triple span post-free trellis frame steel bridge supported by a continuous beam. The bridge was opened on 12 August 1956. The frontier was set at the midpoint of the bridge:

owns the eastern half and

owns the western half.

Complementing the 1956 bridge: the 2010 bridge

On 14 March 2006 France and Germany agreed the framework for the construction of the extended high speed LGV Est railway line. The project required that trains be able to cross the Rhine at Kehl at speeds of up to 120 km/h (75 mph) at a time when the single track 1956 bridge was restricted to 60 km/h (37 mph).Le nouveau pont de Kehl est sur les rails
sur « 20minutes.fr » Provision was therefore made for a twin track bridge. Work began in March 2008 with completion scheduled for the end of 2010. The new bridge is in total long, high and wide. Clearance for river traffic at high water and flood levels must be at least .

References

{{Reflist, 2 Bridges over the Rhine Bridges completed in 1956 Bridges completed in 1861 Bridges completed in 2010 International bridges in France International bridges in Germany Railway bridges in France Railway bridges in Germany 1861 establishments in Europe Buildings and structures in Strasbourg Transport in Strasbourg Bridges in Baden-Württemberg France–Germany border crossings 21st-century architecture in France

The 1861 bridge

Replacing the 1861 bridge: the 1956 bridge

Complementing the 1956 bridge: the 2010 bridge

See also

References