Exponals
The Exponale or Pedestrian Bridge North in Hanover is an exceptionally wide and long pedestrian bridge that is located on the former Expo site in the Mittelfeld district.
After a two-year construction period, the bridge was opened in 2000 for what was then Expo 2000 in Hanover. The steel and reinforced concrete structure is 127 meters long and 30 meters wide. The steel pillars of the bridge continue upwards as light steles, which at night give the impression of light sticks.
Location and function of the bridges
The exponale spans the Messeschnellweg and thus connects the parts of the area on both sides of it. It begins at the western exit of the Expo Plaza and thus on the western edge of the former eastern area of the world exhibition. There it first bridges a street that still belongs to the Expo Plaza, then the Messeschnellweg and finally the smaller street on the edge of the exhibition center. The bridge leads to the roof of Hall 8. The large outside staircase that follows leads to about 130 m within the exhibition grounds , the western area of Expo 2000, and lets the visitor out with a view of the Convention Center. Shortly before the middle of the bridge there is a connection to the parking garage and parking lots in the south in the form of a smaller pedestrian bridge branching off at right angles.
Three other similar bridges were built for the EXPO. Of these, one each to the north and south of the exponale (bridge northeast, bridge south) over the Messeschnellweg. The bridge south leads from the Leine shopping center and the Laatzen-Zentrum tram stop to the former EXPO-Süd entrance; today this leads to the IKEA department store , the Yemen pavilion and the EXPO whale pavilion. The north-east bridge leads from today's East 2 exhibition entrance behind Hall 3 to the east parking lot. Another bridge (east) leads from the east side of the Expo Plaza across the world exhibition avenue to the terminus of tram line 6 .
However, the exponale is the most famous, as it was the only possible connection between the two exhibition areas ( apart from a cable car ) and was frequented by thousands of visitors every day.
History since 2000
At the time of its opening, the Exponale was the largest pedestrian bridge in Europe. The organizers of the expo stated that the bridge can be seen from the plane due to its dimensions.
On all four bridges (exponale, northeast, east and south) and on the light steles, the remains of the Preussag lettering can be seen. The company had largely co-financed the bridges, but was already called TUI in 2002 .
Exponale was also the name of the film festival for the EXPO in 2000 .
Due to the high renovation costs of the two outer bridge segments, which are covered with Douglas fir, work began on dismantling to half the bridge width (15 meters) in July 2009. Around 32 of the 174 illuminated pillars will also be dismantled.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Messebrücke - exponale is halved. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. Accessed November 30, 2015 (German).
- ↑ Exponale - bridge loses luminosity. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. Accessed November 30, 2015 (German).
Coordinates: 52 ° 19 ′ 17.6 " N , 9 ° 48 ′ 49.1" E