Railway Bridge (Riga)

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Railway bridge, 2018

The Railway Bridge ( Latvian Dzelzceļa tilts ) is a railway bridge over the Daugava River in the Latvian capital Riga .

Inauguration, April 1914
German troops cross the damaged new bridge, 1917; on the left the old bridge that has not been preserved
Postage stamp from the Latvian Post Office , 1928
Railway bridge at night, 2012

Architecture and history

Previous buildings

The first iron bridge in Riga over the Daugava was built in 1871/72 at a cost of 1.8 million rubles . The engineer responsible was AF Struve from St. Petersburg . It led from Riga Central Station to Aahaken-Bergshof . Locomotives were able to cross the 736 meter long and 9.75 meter wide bridge as early as October 15, 1872, the opening of the regular service to Aahaken-Bergshof took place on January 1, 1873. The bridge was also usable for pedestrians Bridge was then blocked in each case.

Even before the First World War , the bridge was no longer sufficient for the increasing traffic, so that a new bridge, which is still preserved today, was built in the neighborhood. During the First World War, Russian troops destroyed parts of the bridge, which, however, was repaired by German troops in the same year as a makeshift wooden structure. In an attack by troops under the command of Pavel Mikhailovich Bermondt-Awaloff in 1919, the bridge was again badly damaged. In 1924/25 the bridge was repaired again, which was opened to traffic on June 3, 1924. In 1937/38 extensive renovation work was carried out. The reopening of the bridge took place on November 5, 1938 in the presence of the Latvian Minister of Transport Bernhard Einberg . The bridge was the connection to Semgallia . When the German troops withdrew during World War II in autumn 1944, the bridge was destroyed by German troops and was not rebuilt afterwards.

Today's bridge

Planning for the construction of the bridge, which is still preserved today, began in 1902. On December 23, 1902, approval was given. The planning was done by P. Vozņesenskis and A. Žibers. The actual construction work on the railway bridge upstream of the old bridge - one of the first double-track in the Russian Empire - began in 1909 and was completed in 1914; the total cost was 2.7 million rubles. Limestone from the Kalnezeem quarry was used for the pillars . After the acceptance test including a load test with ten locomotives with a total load of 621.8 tons between April 20 and 22, 1914, the bridge was inaugurated on April 27, 1914.

During the First World War , parts of the bridge were blown up by withdrawing Russian troops on September 12, 1917, but were later rebuilt by German troops. In 1928 a stamp of the Latvian Post appeared with the bridge as a motif. During the Second World War it was blown up in 1944 by retreating German troops. The reconstruction of the bridge began that same year; first a wooden makeshift construction was erected, in 1955 the reconstruction of the railway bridge was completed.

In 2007 lighting was installed on the bridge.

Web links

Commons : Railway Bridge  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fixed bridge over the Düna. In: Rigasche Zeitung No. 266 of November 15, 1872, p. 1 f.
  2. ↑ The new railway bridge over the Daugava near Riga. In: Illustrated supplement to the Rigaschen Rundschau of March 1, 1914, p. 6.

Coordinates: 56 ° 56 ′ 31.6 ″  N , 24 ° 6 ′ 22.8 ″  E