The Südbrücke, Mainz ("South bridge") is a railway bridge on the

Main Railway The Main Railway (German: ''Mainbahn'', pronounced 'mine barn') is a 37.5 km-long double-track rail electrification, electrified railway line, which runs on the south side of the river Main (river), Main from Mainz to Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof, ...

that connects

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

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 ...

, across the

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

with

Gustavsburg The double city of Ginsheim-Gustavsburg in the northwest of the Groß-Gerau district in the German state of Hesse, has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is part of what is called the Rhine-Main region in Germany which has the city of Frankfurt am Main a ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

. It is one of the early railway bridges in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

History

Paulisystembridge (1862)

In the period between 1853 and 1859 railways were built by the

Hessian Ludwig Railway The Hessian Ludwig Railway (German: ''Hessische Ludwigsbahn'') or HLB with its network of 697 kilometres of railway was one of the largest privately owned railway companies in Germany. Early history The Hessian Ludwig Railway was a product of ...

on the left and right bank of the Rhine. Initially they were connected across the Rhine. As a result, a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train f ...

was established between Mainz and Gustavsburg, using two pontoons towed by

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

to carry wagons across the Rhine. Passengers could use the steamer as a ferry from 1 August 1858. In between 1860 and 1862, the south bridge was designed by the engineering works and iron foundry ''Maschinenfabrik und Eisengießerei J. F. Klett'' (later Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg - MAN) originating from

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. Since the Roman bridge (Pons Ingeniosa) first built c. 30 AD and the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

Rhine bridge of Charlemagne, Regesta Imperii RI I n. 477a: „The bridge erected near Mainz by order of Charlemagne is destroyed by fire; the plan to erect a stone bridge instead of a timber bridge was not accomplished. Ann. r. Franc. (Einh.), V. Karoli c. 17, 32 vgl. Poeta Saxo V, 457, Mon. Sangall. I, 30, Simson Karl d. Gr. 2,510.“; it had been the first permanent bridge across the Rhine at Mainz, which until then had only a

bridge of boats The interior of the bridge of the Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska">RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topp ...

. It was after the

Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge The Waldshut–Koblenz Rhine Bridge is a single-track railway bridge on the Turgi–Koblenz–Waldshut railway, between Waldshut and Koblenz AG, crossing the Rhine and the border between Germany and Switzerland. It was the first railway bridge bu ...

on the Upper Rhine, the cathedral Bridge in Cologne and the Kehl bridge the fourth railway bridge over the Rhine.

Design

The bridge was built according to the plans of Heinrich Gerber, the Head of Bridge Division of Maschinenfabrik Klett. The puddled iron (

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

) structure bridge had four bridge segments. The Pauli truss structure was arranged above the roadway, according to the Pauli lenticular truss bridge recently developed by Friedrich August von Pauli. Right of Rhine joined a long flood bridge with 28 other fields. At both bridgeheads were they equipped with scheduled by district architect Ignaz victims man Gothic gates and bridge towers, which were to serve in time of war to defend the bridge.

History

Paulisystembridge (1862)

Design

Sources

References

Further reading