Emile Béthouart footbridge
Coordinates: 47 ° 16 '24 " N , 11 ° 23' 42" E
| Emile Béthouart footbridge | ||
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| use | Pedestrians, cyclists | |
| Crossing of | Inn | |
| place | innsbruck | |
| construction | Truss bridge without an upper cross brace | |
| overall length | 71.4 m | |
| Number of openings | 3 | |
| start of building | 1873 | |
| completion | 1875 | |
| opening | November 1, 1875 | |
| location | ||
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The Emile-Béthouart-Steg (until 2003: Innsteg ) is a pedestrian bridge over the Inn in Innsbruck . The listed iron truss bridge, built in 1875, connects St. Nikolaus on the left with the Saggen on the right bank of the Inn.
history
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In 1836 Johann Nepomuk Mahl-Schedl von Alpenburg , owner of Büchsenhausen Castle , had a ferry built between St. Nikolaus and Saggen. In many cases, this saved a detour over the Inn Bridge . The crossing cost a cruiser . The ferry service was often interrupted by floods in summer and by low water or ice in winter. Therefore, in 1868 the residents of St. Nicholas asked for a footbridge, which the city council refused for financial reasons. As a result, a company was founded in 1871 under Josef Mayr and Johann Handl that wanted to raise the costs of building a wooden walkway. This was also rejected by the magistrate because they feared the “disturbance of the idyllic walks in the English grounds”. However, on February 10, 1871, the large citizens' committee (municipal council) approved the construction with 16 votes to 11 under certain conditions, for example the footbridge was only allowed to be used by pedestrians, but not for driving cattle and vehicles, and society should be used for lighting and Cleanliness and be responsible for maintenance for 30 years. After the approval of the chief steward's office in Vienna, the construction of a wooden walkway on three pillars could begin in March 1871.
Just one year later, in February 1872, Johann Angerer from St. Nikolaus signed a contract with the city to build an iron footbridge at his own expense, which after 50 years would become the property of the city. The iron truss bridge on two pillars was built by French fitters under master builder Wolf from Rattenberg and opened on November 1, 1875. When Angerer died in 1876, the city took over the footbridge for 30,000 guilders and leased the bridge toll for 200 guilders a year. At the instigation of the population of St. Nikolaus, the city renounced the bridge cruiser on December 31, 1899.
In 1914 a water pipe was laid beneath the steel truss association. Major repairs were necessary in 1916, 1922 and 1950. In 2009/10, the footbridge had to be completely renovated due to severe rust damage. The flood protection department required the footbridge to be raised, which would have been difficult due to the location of the ramps. After a revision of the flood protection concept, which provides for targeted flood areas above Innsbruck, the footbridge could be left at its previous height. In the winter of 2009/10, the three main supporting structures were each dismantled as a whole and renovated in a workshop. Individual parts that were no longer load-bearing were replaced in the same way, whereby the round head rivets typical for the appearance were used again for the connections. For cost reasons, modern screw connections were only used in the non-visible areas on the underside. In April 2010 the bridge parts were reinserted, in May 2010 the footbridge was reopened. In 2015, the railing was raised in coordination with the monument office and the footbridge was also opened for cyclists. From October 2019 to April 2020, the piers will be removed and replaced with concrete sleeves so that the water can flow through more freely and flood safety is improved. The foundations are also being strengthened. The costs of the measures are expected to be € 860,000.
Surname
From the bridge toll to be paid by a cruiser until 1899 , the footbridge was given the name Kreuzersteg , which was also used afterwards. In addition, the names Kettensteg and (after the builder Johann Angerer) Angerersteg were also in use. It was not until 1912 that the name Innsteg was defined. In October 1998 the local council decided unanimously to name the footbridge after General Emile Béthouart , who as commander-in-chief of the French occupation troops from 1945 to 1955 had made a contribution to understanding and reconciliation with the Tyrolean population. On June 10, 2003, the footbridge was solemnly named and blessed in the presence of numerous political, diplomatic and military representatives from Tyrol and France.
literature
- Herbert Woditschka: From the Inn ferry to the Inn bridge. In: Innsbruck, Official Bulletin of the State Capital, No. 9, September 14, 1978, p. 12 ( digitized version )
- Wilhelm Eppacher: The Innbrücken in Innsbruck (1st continuation). In: Official Journal of the State Capital Innsbruck, No. 1, January 1954, pp. 6–7 ( digitized version )
Web links
- Emile Béthouart footbridge. In: Structurae
- Innsteg St. Nikolaus on Tirolensien.at
Individual evidence
- ^ Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government, Culture Department (Ed.): Kulturberichte aus Tirol 2012. 63rd Monument Report. Innsbruck 2012, p. 74 ( PDF; 12 MB )
- ↑ Emile-Béthouart-Steg: Cycling allowed , Innsbruck informed, December 30, 2015
- ↑ Emile-Bethouart-Steg not in danger of collapsing, tirol.ORF.at, January 28, 2019
- ↑ General-Emile-Béthouart-Steg - A bridge of understanding. In: Innsbruck informs, July 2003, p. 5 ( digitized version )