The Solis Viaduct () is a single track eleven-arched

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) ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 ...

. It spans the Albula east of the hamlet of Solis, in the canton of Graubünden,

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 ...

. Designed by the engineer Hans Studer, it was built in 1902 by Munari, Cayre und Marasi for the

Rhaetian Railway The Rhaetian Railway (; ; ), abbreviated RhB, is a Swiss transport company that owns the largest network of all private railway operators in Switzerland. Headquartered in Chur, the RhB operates all the railway lines of the Cantons of Switzerland, ...

, which still owns and uses it today. One of the most important structures on the

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

-listed

Albula Railway The Albula railway line (; ; ) is a Single track (rail), single track metre gauge railway line forming part of the core network of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It links Thusis (Rhae ...

, it is high, long, and has a main span of .

Location

The Solis Viaduct forms part of the

section between Thusis and

Tiefencastel Tiefencastel () is a village and a former municipality in the district of Albula in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. On 1 January 2015 the former municipalities of Alvaschein, Mon, Stierva, Tiefencastel, Alvaneu, Brienz/Brinzauls a ...

, and is at the mark from Thusis. East of the viaduct is the Stausee Solis.

Description

The limestone-built

was conceived by Hans Studer as the first stone

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

in Switzerland to be designed in accordance with the

elasticity theory In physics and materials science, elasticity is the ability of a body to resist a distorting influence and to return to its original size and shape when that influence or force is removed. Solid objects will deform when adequate loads are a ...

. That choice of design allowed the use of a

parabolic arch A parabolic arch is an arch in the shape of a parabola.Article about parabolic arch by The Free DictionaryParabolic arch , Article about parabolic arch by The Free Dictionary accessdate: March 2, 2017 In structures, their curve represents an effi ...

, and thus a very slim form of construction. Building costs could thereby be limited to 125,000

Swiss francs The Swiss franc, or simply the 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) i ...

at 1902 prices. With its height of , the Solis Viaduct is the highest on the

. It consists of a main span of flanked by 10 other spans ranging from to .

Renovation

In 1997, the

was renovated at great expense. The previous isolation between the gravel bed and walls was filled in by a new sealing system, incorporating liquid plastic film and shotcrete. In addition, the rails and ballast were renewed.

Gallery

File:Schinschlucht2.jpg, Schin gorge with the viaduct. File:Solisbruecke.jpg, A closer view of the viaduct File:Soliser Viadukt neues Wappen 01 09.jpg, The new Graubünden coat of arms sculpture on the main span. File:Solis Viaduct, Schinschlucht and Solis dam, aerial video.webm, thumbtime=1:02, Aerial video of Solis Viaduct.

References

*See the references in Soliser Viadukt (de Wikipedia)

External links