Dr. W. Hupkes Bridge
Coordinates: 51 ° 49 ′ 6 ″ N , 5 ° 15 ′ 41 ″ E
| Dr. W. Hupkesbrug | ||
|---|---|---|
 Bommel Bridge (demolished in 2008), Martinus Nijhoff Bridge |
||
| Convicted | Utrecht – Boxtel railway line | |
| Subjugated | Waal | |
| place |
Zaltbommel , Waardenburg ( West Betuwe municipality ) |
|
| Entertained by | ProRail | |
| construction | Truss bridge | |
| overall length | 863 m | |
| width | 2 × 5 m | |
| Longest span | 3 × 125 m | |
| Headroom | 17.30 m (for ships) | |
| start of building | circa 1865 | |
| opening | October 31, 1869 (1st track), 1932 (2nd track) | |
| location | ||
|
||
The Dr. W. Hupkes Bridge ( Dutch: Dr. W. Hupkesbrug ) spans the Waal , the southern arm of the Rhine in the Rhine-Maas Delta , between the Dutch municipalities of Zaltbommel and West Betuwe . The Utrecht – Boxtel railway runs on the truss bridge , which was built in 1869 and rebuilt in 1947 and 1951 after war damage . The structure is located at Rhine kilometer 933.50 and kilometer 75.18 of the Dutch waterway 101 (Rhine – Waal – Boven-Merwede – Beneden- Merwede – Noord ).
history
On August 18, 1860, the Dutch government decided to build ten so-called Staatslijnen (German State Lines ), including the railway line from Utrecht to Boxtel (Staatslijn H). Around 1865, the construction of the Waal Bridge, which belongs to this railway line, began, which was opened on October 31, 1869 and had a total length of 863 meters. Starting in the south, the structure consisted of three openings with spans of 125 meters each as a river bridge and eight openings with spans of 60 meters each as an approach bridge. All bridges were designed as a steel framework with rails below. First, a single-track bridge was built, with the piers already designed for a planned second bridge.
The construction of another bridge for the double-track expansion of the section followed in 1932. This had the same framework as the first bridge, but the infills were more modern and the girder ends were vertical. The railway bridge was destroyed several times during the Second World War . In May 1940, when the Wehrmacht attacked the Netherlands, two main arches were blown up by the Dutch military. Then one of the two bridges was repaired by the German occupiers, the other one including its eight undamaged approach bridges was dismantled and used as an emergency bridge elsewhere. A main opening spared by the blast was so badly damaged during transport that it could no longer be used. During Operation Market Garden in 1944, the remaining bridge was blown up again by the Wehrmacht. All main openings were destroyed.
Immediately after the end of the war, the reconstruction of the western railway bridge began, with parts of the construction from 1932 being largely used due to the lack of material. The single-track operation of the bridge could already be resumed in January 1947. In 1951 the eastern bridge was released. Since then, the bridge has been officially named after the resistance fighter and former director of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen Willem Hupkes (1880–1965).
From 1933 there was the so-called Bommelse Brug ( German Bommel Bridge ) a few meters west of the railway bridge , the first road bridge on this section of the river. This was replaced by the Martinus-Nijhoff Bridge , built between 1993 and 1996, and demolished in 2007/2008.
Construction of the bridge piers, May 5, 1868
June 19, 1869
January 1870
See also
Web links
- Dr. W. Hupkes Bridge. In: Structurae
- Railway bridge In: brueckenweb.de
|
The next bridge upriver: Waal : Prince Willem Alexander Bridge |
Bridges over the Rhine |
The next bridge downstream: Waal : Bommel bridge (demolished in 2007/2008) Martinus-Nijhoff bridge |