The Rheinkniebrücke (English: Rhine knee bridge) is a

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

leading over 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 ...

at the Rheinknie in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

with a six-lane motor road and two combined pedestrian and

cycle paths Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in ...

, which was opened to traffic on 16 October 1969.

History

The decision to build the bridge was made in 1962. The architect Friedrich Tamms was entrusted with the development of the project.

Fritz Leonhardt Fritz Leonhardt (12 July 1909 – 30 December 1999) was a German structural engineer who made major contributions to 20th-century bridge engineering, especially in the development of cable-stayed bridges. His book ''Bridges: Aesthetics and Design' ...

was appointed chief engineer. The bridge was built in 1965 by Deutsche Maschinenbau-Aktiengesellschaft (Demag AG), Gutehoffnungshütte, Aktienverein für Bergbau und Hüttenbetrieb and Hein, Lehmann & Co.. The bridge was commissioned on 16 October 1969. At the time of its opening, it was a cable-stayed bridge with the longest span in the world.

Location

The bridge connects the Düsseldorf districts of Unterbilk and Oberkassel. The bridge got its name from its location.

References

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History

Location

References

See also