Lötzen railway swing bridge
Coordinates: 54 ° 2 ′ 2 ″ N , 21 ° 45 ′ 44 ″ E
| Lötzen railway swing bridge | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Convicted | Glommen – Bialystok railway line | |
| Subjugated | Lötzen Canal | |
| place | Soldering | |
| construction | steel construction | |
| Number of openings | 1 | |
| opening | December 7, 1868 | |
| Status | blown up | |
| closure | January 25, 1945 | |
| location | ||
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The Lötzen railway swing bridge , built in 1868, was located on the Glommen – Bialystok railway line . It was blown up on January 25, 1945 by retreating German soldiers.
History and technology
The railway bridge planned by K. Stachowski lay west of Lötzen and led across the Lötzen Canal . It was built as a double-track swing bridge . The bridge was a steel construction and was put into operation on December 7, 1868 together with the Küstrin – Lyck section.
From the beginning, the bridge was an object of military importance. Therefore, the eastern approach was provided with a dam with a brick wall. At the top of the dam, the tracks could be closed with a gate. The dam was protected against access by barriers. This access barrier was built on the eastern bank because it secured access to the bridge and to the western part of the city with the adjacent fortress Boyen .
As the bridge was a strategic object, it was forbidden to photograph it. The railway bridge can only be seen in pictures if photos of the canal or the ships were taken, with the bridge itself only forming the background.
The bridge consisted of a steel structure, which was equipped with a counterweight at the western end. The deck of the bridge was made of sheet steel. The double-track swing bridge could be rotated in full length around the vertical axis. In the rest position it lay on both bridgeheads and enabled the rail connection. When opened, it lay parallel to the axis of the canal and thus opened the waterway. It was rotated around a pivot point on the western bank on which the bridge rested. The movable bridge part was moved with a hand crank over a gear structure.
The wheelhouse with the control unit was built on the western bank. During the shipping season, the bridge had to be manned by a bridge keeper at all times due to goods being transported on the canal.
Towards the end of the Second World War , all important bridges in East Prussia were made impassable due to the attack by the Soviet Army . The railway bridge met the same fate. On January 22, 1945, the last train carrying refugees passed the swing bridge in front of the Red Army . On January 24th the railway bridge was taken out of service and on January 25th it was blown up together with the other bridges of the Lötzen Canal.
New building
The bridge parts remained in the canal. After the war, the blown railway bridge was soon replaced by a provisional bridge of the Soviet Army . This was built on piles that were driven into the center of the canal. The canal was impassable for ships at this point.
In 1946 the Ministry of Transport was informed of the need to rebuild the swing bridge. The fixed bridge separated the northern lakes from the southern so that ships could not pass the canal. At the end of 1947 the remains of the railway bridge were completely removed from the canal, but the piles remained in the canal bed. Therefore, in 1954, a new project was designed to enable navigation in the entire canal again. In 1955, the temporary bridge was demolished and a permanent, single-track new structure was erected, which was connected with railway embankments. A pedestrian walkway runs next to the track.
The new construction prevented the free passage of larger ships under the bridge because the headroom was too low. This problem should be solved by lifting devices mounted directly on the bridge. However, the project was never realized.
At the turn of 1960/61 a draft for a fixed bridge with a height of 120.80 m above sea level ( Kronstadt level ) was submitted. It included the construction of a two-span bridge on two concrete bridgeheads and a central concrete column. For this purpose, a roadway was to be created next to the track in order to build a new approach to the port. This plan was not carried out either.
Web links
- Most kolejowy (railway swing bridge) opracował K.Stachowski. In: gizycko-lotzen.pl. Retrieved March 17, 2018 (Polish).