The Wiesen Viaduct (or Wiesener Viaduct; german: Wiesener Viadukt) is a single-track railway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

, made from concrete blocks with

dimension stone Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements. ...

coverage. It spans the Landwasser southwest of the hamlet of Wiesen, in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Surmiran, (Ca ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Designed by the then chief engineer of the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (german: Rhätische Bahn; it, Ferrovia retica; rm, Viafier retica), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the Rh ...

, Henning Friedrich, it was built between 1906 and 1909 by the contractor G. Marasi (Westermann & Cie, Zürich) under the supervision of P. Salaz and Hans Studer (RhB). The Rhaetian Railway still owns and uses it today for regular service. An important element of the Davos–Filisur railway, the viaduct is high and long; it has a main span of .

Location

The Wiesen Viaduct forms part of the Davos–Filisur railway section between Wiesen and

Filisur Filisur is an Alpine village and former municipality in the Albula Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. The village sits on a hillside with a view to the west where the two rivers Albula/Alvra from the Albula Pass and Landwasser ...

. Just southwest of Wiesen railway station, it has, on its south side, a separate pedestrian bridge giving hikers access to

. At the western end of the viaduct is a non functioning Hippsche turning wheel.

History

The Wiesen Viaduct structure was designed by the then Chief Engineer of the Rhaetian Railway, Henning Friedrich. Construction began in October 1906, under the direction of another engineer, Hans Studer. With the launch of the Davos–Filisur railway in July 1909, the viaduct came into operation. It cost a total of 324,000

Swiss francs The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...

to build. The

falsework Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support a permanent structure until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. For arches, this is specifically called centering. Falsework includes temporary s ...

used for the building of the viaduct was designed by G. Marasi, swallowed up around of wood, and was constructed by the Graubünden carpenter Richard Coray. In 1926, the viaduct was the inspiration for

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-century ...

's painting ''Brücke bei Wiesen''.

Technical data

The Wiesen Viaduct is high and long. Its main span is only wide, but also long, which makes it one of the longest main spans of any masonry bridge. To the west of the main span are two arches, each long. East of the main span are four more arches, each of them also long. These technical characteristics combine to make the Wiesen Viaduct the Rhaetian Railway's largest stone and second largest bridge.

Gallery

Wiesener Viadukt RhB 01 08.jpg, Push–pull train, with Ge 4/4 I no 608 and driving coach BDt no 1721, crossing the Wiesen Viaduct. File:Hippsche Wendescheibe RhB Wiesen 02 08.jpg, A push–pull train from

crossing the viaduct. The non functioning Hippsche turning wheel is visible at the right. File:Wiesener Viadukt.jpg, View of the viaduct in summer. File:Wiesener Viadukt (10-2008).jpg, Wiesener Viadukt (10-2008) File:Wiesen Gesamtansicht 01 09.jpg, View of the viaduct from the Jenisbergstrasse. File:Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Brücke bei Wiesen.jpg,

: ''Brücke bei Wiesen''.

References

* See the references in Wiesener Viadukt (de Wikipedia)

External links