Bridges over Linzer Strasse and Schloßallee
The bridges over Linzer Straße and Schloßallee in Vienna's 14th district of Penzing are two bridges on the western railway line .
history
The two double-track bridges with parallel girders were built in 1858, with the one over today's Schlossallee extending continuously across all three openings. The abutments , wings and pillars consisted of brickwork with ashlar reinforcement, which was in good condition at the time of the renovation. The fact that the iron structures of both bridges showed significant corrosion damage and that reinforcement in order to continue to meet the increased requirements of rail traffic was not possible, made their replacement necessary.
The economic situation in 1919 only allowed the supporting structures to be replaced without changing the existing arrangement of the pillars. On the instructions of the State Office, the plan drawn up by the Vienna-West State Railway Directorate was limited to what was expedient and absolutely necessary.
In March 1920, Wiener Eisenbau AG was commissioned by the State Office for Transport with the detailed planning, delivery and assembly of the new structures. It was demanded that the construction work on the two bridges at the western end of the Westbahnhof should disrupt rail traffic as little as possible.
From August 1920, the existing abutments and pillars were adapted to the new conditions in a first construction phase. To do this, it was necessary to place one end of a structure on a wooden structure, while the other end rested on the masonry. This construction work lasted until June 1921.
On June 23 and 24, 1921, track 1 was closed for 36 hours. During this time, the supporting structures were lifted using two cranes and the new ones were installed. After the endurance test , traffic on platform 1 was resumed on the evening of June 24th. The work on track 2 was carried out on August 4th and 5th. By the end of September 1921, the last work such as assembling the consoles for the sidewalks and erecting the bridge railings were carried out.
In 1922, the Federal Railway Administration took the decision to widen both bridges by two tracks each and at the same time create the structural possibility to accommodate the supporting structures for a fifth track by building correspondingly wide abutments.
During this work, the existing wall alignments as well as the height of the lower edges of the bridge were taken over. The new bridge structures were connected to the south of the existing track system. After a public invitation to tender, Wiener Eisenbau AG was again commissioned with the bridge construction work.
The excavation of the foundations began on October 16, 1922, and the concreting work, which lasted until September 1923, could be carried out with interruptions on October 18. The eastern abutment for the bridge over Linzer Strasse was completed last .
The new bridges were built from eight free-standing full-walled main girders. In order to be able to set up switch systems on the bridges later, a so-called ballasted roadway overhead was chosen as the construction method.
Work on installing the supporting structures began at the beginning of June 1923 and was completed on October 27, 1923. This was followed by the completion of the paintwork and the laying of the tracks.
Until the 1970s or 1980s, the tram in the Schloßallee ran continuously on a side track. The bridge was underpassed by the tram with a short single-track route in alternating operations. Then the track between the bridge and the intersection of Schloßallee with Mariahilfer Strasse / Penzinger Strasse was swiveled into the middle of the lane and consistently double-tracked.
literature
- Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects , Vienna, 1922
- Journal of the Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects , Vienna, 1924
