Adolphe Bridge
Coordinates: 49 ° 36 '30 " N , 6 ° 7' 37" E
| Adolphe Bridge | ||
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| Official name | Pont Adolphe | |
| use | Road bridge | |
| Crossing of | Petruss Valley | |
| place | Luxembourg | |
| construction | Stone arch bridge | |
| overall length | 153 m | |
| width | 18 m | |
| Number of openings | 1 + 2 | |
| Longest span | 84.55 m | |
| Clear height | 42 m | |
| start of building | 1900 | |
| opening | 1903 | |
| planner | Paul Séjourné | |
| location | ||
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The Adolphe Bridge ( Luxembourgish Adolphe-Bréck , French Pont Adolphe , other German spelling Adolph-Brücke , formerly also Adolfbrücke ), also called "New Bridge", crosses the Petruss Valley in Luxembourg and connects the Boulevard Royal in the old town with the Avenue de la Liberté in the station district. It is still one of the largest stone arch bridges in the world.
description
The Adolphe Bridge is used for general road traffic between the old town and the station district. Originally it also made it possible for a narrow - gauge railway Luxembourg – Echternach, known locally as Charly , to cross the Petruss valley. The tram " Stater Tram ", which was partially opened on December 10, 2017, will also run over this bridge in a few years. During the last renovation, rails were laid for this purpose.
Technical specifications
The 153 m long bridge consists of a mighty double arch with a span of 84.55 m, which crosses the Petruss valley at a height of 42 m. For these two central arches alone, 2850 m³ of Gilsdorf sandstone were used. On both sides of this double arch, four 5.40 m wide saving arches are elevated to support the bridge plate. The double arches are framed on both sides by strong pillars and 21.60 m wide double arches over the slopes of the valley. The two double arches are 6 m apart; they are 6.12 m wide at the fighter and 5.32 m wide at the apex. Each arch is 2.16 m thick on the fighter and tapers to the top of the arch to 1.44 m. This stone-built construction supports a reinforced concrete bridge plate , which is bordered by balustrades . Originally the bridge slab was around 16 m wide; when it was renovated in 1961/62 it was widened to 17.20 m within the balustrades. It currently has four lanes and one walkway each protected by a raised curb.
Significance for the development of bridge construction
The bridge was built according to plans by Paul Séjourné and is considered his masterpiece, with which he achieved international recognition. At the time it was built, it was the largest stone arch bridge in the world. Its most important feature is the dissolution of the uniform, wide bridge arch into two narrow, parallel arches, which were built one after the other, so that only a narrow falsework was necessary that could be used twice. The falsework, designed as a truss , was not erected in its full width on the valley floor, but only supported by a narrow central pillar and otherwise supported on the abutments and stiffened with wire ropes, which enabled further considerable savings. The open savings arches mounted on the large arch also led to a weight saving compared to the previously common, massive arches with filled gussets. With the bridge slab made of reinforced concrete, which was still new at the time, the space between the double arches could easily be covered and a roadway created that was a quarter wider than the two arches. The space in between could also be used for sewer pipes. Paul Séjourné created a type of bridge that soon found worldwide distribution, especially in concrete bridges. Only a few years later, the design was used in the construction of the Walnut Lane Bridge in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA , a concrete bridge of similar dimensions erected between 1906 and 1908. He himself repeated the design for the somewhat smaller Pont Sidi Rached in Constantine (Algeria), which was built from 1908 to 1912 .
history
The passerelle , a viaduct consisting of 24 arches built between 1859 and 1861 a few hundred meters further east, soon proved to be too narrow for traffic in the rapidly expanding city after the fortress was opened in 1867. In 1896 the first plans for a bridge were drawn up under the direction of the Luxembourg engineer Albert Rodange. In view of the size of the construction project, the government considered it useful to bring in Paul Séjourné, recommended by the French government, as an expert for large arch bridges. His most important contribution was certainly - along with numerous other changes - the division of the bridge into parallel arches.
Grand Duke Adolph I laid the foundation stone on July 14, 1900 . Since all materials for this bridge were delivered from the high-lying districts of the city, an auxiliary bridge across the valley was started from which the material was lowered to its destination. The status of the construction work was regularly documented from the beginning by the Luxembourg court photographer Charles Bernhoeft. The work on the stone arch bridge was carried out by Fougerolle Frères (which later became part of the Eiffage company ); the reinforced concrete slab was created by Edmond Coignet's company . After a construction period of three years, the bridge was ceremonially opened on July 24, 1903.
The name "New Bridge" (Luxembourgish "Nei Bréck") was given to the Adolphe Bridge to distinguish it from the passerelle, which was also called "Old Bridge" ("Al Bréck").
In 2003, to celebrate the centenary of the Adolphe Bridge, the Luxembourg Post issued a postage stamp for € 0.45 and the French one for € 0.50.
Renovations
As part of an overhaul in 1960/61, the bridge's carriageway was widened. For this purpose, their bridge slab was completely removed, the 6 m wide space between the two arches was covered with concrete slabs and a new reinforced concrete slab was concreted on top. In 1976, minor repairs were carried out and the road surface was renewed.
During investigations by the road construction administration in the 1990s, it was found that numerous stone blocks in the bridge arches were damaged, which can be traced back to the route work in the 1960s, as this resulted in eccentric loading of the double arches. To prevent the cracks from getting bigger, more than 200 anchor rods were attached to the arches in autumn 2003. At the beginning of 2005, such an anchoring rod broke, whereupon pedestrian paths under the bridge were temporarily closed. In addition, the sealing of the bridge against condensation proved to be inadequate, which resulted in large parts of the stone masonry being soaked with salt water.
A fundamental renovation of the bridge should begin in 2011. Preparatory work began at the end of 2011. The construction work also envisaged widening the bridge by 75 cm, which should enable the construction of a tram line planned for 2015 from the Luxexpo building via the historic city center to the Luxembourg train station . Since the renovation involves the removal of the bridge slab and parts of the superstructure, construction of a temporary bridge began in December 2012, approx. 50 m west of the Adolphe Bridge. During the four-year renovation, this maintained the flow of traffic in the capital. Construction of the first bridge piers and girders began on August 6, 2013. The temporary bridge was opened on April 12, 2014. The total cost of the temporary bridge was given as 23 million euros. The renovation work on the Adolphe Bridge began on May 19, 2014 and was completed in March 2017. On March 25, 2017, it was again opened to traffic. The renovation took 63 million euros. A scaffold made of 1050 iron bars had to be erected.
In April 2015 it was announced that a 4 m wide route for cyclists would be built on a second level. The new route between the arches of the bridge below the road should also be used by pedestrians. With this, the city of Luxembourg will have a new sight for visitors, because the main arch will provide an extensive view of the valley. The four-meter-wide suspension bridge for cyclists and pedestrians, newly installed between the two main arches, was opened on September 17, 2017.
literature
- Jean-Pierre Koltz: Building history of the city and fortress Luxembourg , 3 vols., Luxembourg 1946/51.
Web links
- Photo series about the construction of the Adolphe Bridge by Charles Bernhoeft on the website of the Administration des Ponts et Chaussées, Grand Duché de Luxembourg .
- Detailed description of the bridge and the planned renovation (French) ( page no longer available )
- Article on the renovation of the bridge on wort.lu
Individual evidence
- ^ Luxembourg Lexicon. The Grand Duchy of AZ. Editions Guy Binsfeld, Luxemburg 2006, pp. 24-25
- ↑ Ons Stad, No. 71/2002, p. 8
- ↑ Memotransfront. Places of cross-border memory
- ↑ Eduard Feitler: Luxembourg, your hometown. Verlag Sankt Paulus, Luxemburg 1952. p. 36
- ↑ a b c Historique du pont Adolphe on the website of the Administration des Ponts et Chaussées, Grand Duché de Luxembourg.
- ↑ Pathology (clinical picture of the bridge) and Les mesures de stabilisations provisoires (preliminary safety measures); on the website of the Administration des Ponts et Chaussées, Grand Duché de Luxembourg.
- ↑ Despite the savings package: Pont Adolphe is being renovated. Luxemburger Wort , May 8, 2010.
- ↑ wort.lu: The Petruss Valley in blue-green
- ↑ luxtram.lu: Calendar ( Memento from January 8, 2016 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Wort.lu: Réhabilitation du Pont Adolphe: 23 millions d'euros pour le pont provisoire
- ↑ wort.lu: The blue bridge is open
- ↑ rtl.lu: provisional Bréck laanscht déi Nei Bréck holds form un ( Memento from August 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ wort.lu: See you soon, Pont Adolphe!
- ↑ 114 years old and again in top form . On Saturday the "Nei Bréck" will be opened to traffic again after a comprehensive renovation.
- ↑ Reopening of the Pont Adolphe - bridge free! , Luxemburger Wort, 25 March 2017.
- ↑ Article "Cycling under the tram" from April 4, 2015 in the Luxemburger Wort
- ↑ Chic cycle path under "Pont Adolphe" almost finished , L'essentiel, July 17, 2017.