Ava bridge

Coordinates: 21 ° 52 ′ 18 ″  N , 95 ° 59 ′ 31 ″  E

Ava bridge
use	Railroad and road
Convicted	Railway traffic Yangon - Myitkyina , road traffic Mandalay - Sagaing
Crossing of	Irrawaddy
place	Near Inwa
Entertained by	Ministry of Transportation
construction	Truss bridge
overall length	1128 m
Number of openings	16
Longest span	107 m
Pillar strength	8.8 m
Load capacity	less than 15 t in road traffic
Clear height	12 m above high water
completion	1934
Status	in operation
location

The Ava Bridge , also Inva Bridge or Inwa Bridge , has long been one of the largest bridges in Myanmar . The truss bridge leads both road and rail near Inwa over the Irrawaddy . It is named after the nearby ruins of the former capital of Burma, which are now a popular tourist destination.

history

The bridge was built by the British in 1934 and was the only bridge over the river until 1988. It replaced a ferry service for railroad cars and road vehicles, which was used by the Yangon - Myitkyina railway traffic at this point, as well as by road traffic between the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing .

During the Second World War , the bridge was destroyed when the British troops retreated. After the independence of Burma, the bridge was rebuilt in 1954.

In 1992, the permitted weight of the road vehicles had to be reduced to 15 t, so that a ferry service had to be set up again for the vehicles that were too heavy. Ferries with Schottel rudder propellers were used. It was not until 2008 that the new Irrawaddy Bridge, 700 m upstream, was opened, which is designed for today's traffic.

Building

The 1128 m long bridge consists of nine 107 m long, one 76 m long and six 18 m long girders. It carries the railway line within the truss and one lane of the road outside the girders on both sides on cantilever arms. The longest girders weigh 1036 t. The bridge piers were built with caissons that are 18 m long and 8.8 m wide. They are anchored at various depths in the rocky river bed, the deepest reaching 32 m into the subsoil. The pillar height of the structure was chosen so that when the Irrawaddy floods a clear height of 12 m is available for shipping. It had to be taken into account that the level of the river fluctuates by up to 12 m over the year. The pillars are reinforced so that they are not damaged in an earthquake.

Web links

Commons : Ava Bridge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ava Bridge Across The Irrawaddy River Near To Mandalay Myanmar Stock Photo | Getty Images. In: www.gettyimages.com. Retrieved August 29, 2016 . 
2. ^ Yan Gyi Aung: Ayeyawady Bridge (Yadanabon) facilitates transportation and commodity flow . In: The New Light of Myanmar . Volume 17, No. 179 , October 12, 2009, p. 1 and 8 ( burmalibrary.org [PDF]).
3. ^ Burma's meter-gauge system. In: mikes.railhistory.railfan.net. Retrieved August 29, 2016 .