Swing bridge at the winter harbor

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Swing bridge at the winter harbor

The swing bridge at the Winterhafen in Mainz was built around 1877 and is therefore one of the oldest swing bridges still in existence . It crosses the winter harbor and serves as a link between the old town and the pier on the Victor Hugo bank.

Twelve years after the opening of the winter port in 1865, the swing bridge enabled ships to pass through at any water level. After widening the banks of the Rhine, there were two swing bridges in Mainz. However, the bridge at the customs and inland port was demolished after 1945.

The property is under monument protection and is considered a cultural monument . The mechanical turning device of the bridge at Winterhafen had not been functional since 1996 and was replaced by a hydraulic device in 2009 because it was at risk of brittle fracture . In addition, yachts should also be able to drive into the winter harbor in the future in order to increase the recreational value for a nearby construction site. The total cost of the project was put at € 1.1 million.

The old swing bridge was dismantled on March 20, 2009 with the participation of Riga Mainz . The new swing bridge was manufactured in the workshops of the Wiesbaden company Huhle Stahl- und Metallbau from April of the same year. The new steel structure was assembled on October 29, 2009. The structure is 37.50 meters long, 4.50 meters wide and weighs 54 tons. The old part of the bridge weighed only 21.5 tons. The type is an asymmetrical, two-wing street swing bridge made of riveted steel framework. The aim is to largely adapt the appearance of the new bridge to that of the old bridge. The construction materials meet modern requirements, so the flooring is made of aluminum instead of wooden planks as it used to be.

The “ king pin ” as a pivot point is placed on a sandstone pillar. This part of the mechanism, which is no longer visible, has a diameter of 20 centimeters. From the movement mechanism you can only see the running and rolling ring of the rotating pillar . The bridge abutments are accentuated by balustrades that end in curved pieces of wall with stone benches.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Newly constructed historical swing bridge installed at the Winterhafen in Mainz ( memento from November 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Allgemeine Zeitung Mainz from October 29, 2009

Coordinates: 49 ° 59 ′ 43.2 ″  N , 8 ° 16 ′ 59 ″  E