The Nydeggbrücke is a bridge in
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, which connects the eastern part of the
old city to the new part. It crosses over the
Aare
The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.
Its total length from its source to i ...
and is located very close to the
Bärengraben
The Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, is a tourist attraction in the Swiss capital city of Bern. It is a bear pit, or enclosure housing bears, situated at the eastern edge of the old city of Bern, next to the Nydeggbrücke and the River Aar. Although ...
. It was built in parallel to the
Untertorbrücke in 1840, which until then had been the only bridge crossing the Aare. The Nydeggbrücke is in total 190 meters long and took three years to build. It is a Swiss
heritage site of national significance.
History
Following a three-year planning phase on 7 July 1840 the city appointed Karl Emanuel Müller as the lead engineer on the Nydegg Bridge project. Starting in August 1840, crews worked throughout the winter of 1840/41 to build
coffer dam
A cofferdam is an enclosure built within a body of water to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out or drained. This pumping creates a dry working environment so that the work can be carried out safely. Cofferdams are commonly used for constru ...
s and prepare the foundations for the bridge pillars. Despite severe floods and other delays by May 1841 the pillars were in place and above water level. The cornerstone ceremony took place in early June of the same year. In the fall of 1841 construction began on the eastern side arch and by the following fall both the western and eastern side arches were finished. With the side arches finished, in the winter of 1842 workers began building the scaffolding for the larger central arch. By the summer of 1843, the central arch was completed and on 14–15 September 1843 the placing of the
keystone was celebrated with cannon fire, speeches and a feast.
With major construction completed, the scaffolding was dismantled and work began on the decoration and roadway on the bridge. On 23 November 1844 the bridge was dedicated with a celebration attended by the entire city.
[Hofer, pg. 216] The entire project cost about 1,650,000 Franks.
[Hofer, pg. 217]
On 1 March 1853, a portion of the 1848
Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; (BV); (Cst.); (Cost.); ) of 18 April 1999 (SR 101) is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland.
It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of ...
came into effect and removed all internal tolls on travel and trade. The toll houses on the Nydegg bridge were closed and the canton took over ownership of the bridge. In 1850, the was built. The newer bridge and the railroad quickly became the preferred routes into the city, while the Nydegg bridge was only used for local traffic. This changed in the 1920s when the city expanded to the southeast and the Nydegg bridge once again became a popular route into the city.
[
]
Bridge construction
The Nydegg bridge is a freestone structure with three arches over the Aare. The bridge was built with a core of Merlinger and Jura limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
(from Solothurn
Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.
The town is ...
) and then clad with blue sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
from nearby Ostermundigen
Ostermundigen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerland.
The city is the b ...
.[Hofer, pg. 219] The top of the bridge is above the average river level. The larger central arch is wide while the two side arches are both . Until the 1890s, the large central arch was the largest in Europe. The entire bridge is long. At both ends of the structure, it is wide. However, the bridge narrows in the center and is only wide for a distance of over the center of the river. The pillars that support the central arch are wide.[
]
See also
* List of Aare bridges in Bern
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nydeggbrucke
Old City (Bern)
Bridges in Bern
Bridges over the Aare
Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern
Road bridges in Switzerland
Former toll bridges