Floridsdorfer Hochbahn
| Floridsdorfer Hochbahn | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route number : | 138 01 | ||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 5.0 km | ||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||
| Power system : | 15kV 16 2/3 Hz ~ | ||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 6 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 300 m | ||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 70 km / h | ||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
Coordinates: 48 ° 16 ′ 5 ″ N , 16 ° 24 ′ 36 ″ E
The Floridsdorfer Hochbahn , originally the Jedlersdorfer Loop , later also called the Italian Loop , is a single-track electrified connecting line as an elevated railway in the Vienna district of Floridsdorf between the Nordwestbahn in Jedlersdorf and the Nordbahn in Leopoldau.
.jpg)
history
Reason for establishment
Due to the increasing passenger and freight traffic from the north of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy , the rail network in the Vienna area was heavily loaded, so that in 1911 the Ministry of Railways began planning bypass routes, including a connection between the Northern Railway and the Northwest Railway in Floridsdorf as well as the Franz-Josefs-Bahn .
However, the implementation of a first project for this route failed due to property speculation, which would have driven the costs to intolerable heights.
The situation became even more drastic during the First World War , when the number of trains that had to pass Vienna, which had increased again due to military transport, repeatedly mixed up the timetables .
Realization
On November 16, 1915, the Ministry of Railways referred to the projects at hand and asked for their implementation, whereupon the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn was classified as "important to the war effort". The war ministry as the main beneficiary of this building offered its help in the form of prisoners of war as construction workers.
On March 27 and 28, 1916, the construction inspection of the approximately 4.5 kilometers long route took place.
There were several options for discussion about the type of construction of the elevated railway:
- Earth dam: Although most of the railway lines that had been built above the surrounding level were built on earth embankments, the required earth masses for dams up to eight meters high could not be provided quickly enough.
- Reinforced concrete: This proposal came from engineer Leopold Herzka from the kk Nordwestbahndirektion. It did not fail due to the lack of material - there would have been enough gravel near the construction site - but it was rightly assumed that there would hardly be workers among the prisoners of war who would have the necessary knowledge.
Relevant experience with the construction of viaducts has already been gained with the so-called light rail arches . Eventually an agreement was reached on vaults made of stamped concrete, which required less specialist knowledge and experience on the part of the workers .
For the prisoners of war two camps were built to accommodate them. The first was located between Siemensstrasse and Nordbahntrasse and was designed for 2,000 prisoners. The second camp was located in the cadastral municipality of Breitenlee northwest of the local marshalling yard. Since there was a large proportion of Italians from the Sigmundsherberg prisoner-of-war camp among the prisoners of war , the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn was later given the nickname “Italian loop”.
Construction of the connecting track began in May 1916, after the prisoners of war had completed the spring sowing work.
On embankments, concrete vaults and steel bridges, the 4,500 meter long route (2,128 meters of which as viaducts ) led from Jedlersdorf station (Nordwestbahn) via Koloniestrasse and Brünner Strasse to the confluence with the Nordbahn near Leopoldau .
After a first stress test in which the concrete vaults were loaded with cement sacks, the final stress test took place on November 16, 1916. The line was opened on November 29 and officially opened on December 1, 1916.
Main hub of the Vienna transit newly diversion routes was the (62 km of track having) yard Breitenlee ( ), the end point of the Jedlersdorfer loop miteinschließenden (and on no longer exists Leopold Auer loop leading) 7.441 km long track Jedlersdorf-Leopoldau-Breitenlee Vbf.
Interwar period
Until 1922, the pre-war rail concept continued to be built, but with the disappearance of the northern areas of the monarchy, the northern rail lines lost their great importance. The general economic situation made it necessary to save and so no further work was done. On May 15, 1926 (also affecting the Breitenlee marshalling yard ) official cessation of operations took place .
Second World War
During the Second World War , the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn and the Absdorf – Stockerau local railway were part of the Vienna bypass. The construction of a second, level track was never completed.
From 1944 onwards there was repeated damage from aerial bombs , but these could be temporarily repaired. The line was finally destroyed in 1945 by the German Wehrmacht when they blew up the bridge over the northern line when they withdrew.
Revitalization
On February 5, 1947, the building permit for the renovation of the destroyed viaducts was granted and on January 10, 1949, the building permit for the repair of the destroyed bridge over the northern railway followed.
While the bridges were being completely refurbished, the vault refurbishment had to be stopped due to a lack of materials - residential construction had priority. From 1960 the smaller steel bridges were dismantled and rebuilt in other locations. Only the bridge over the northern runway remained. It was too big and there was no new place to work for it. In 1961 it had to be lifted because of the electrification of the Northern Railway.
With the construction of the Kledering central marshalling yard , considerations came up again to activate the elevated railway.
Numerous freight trains were routed across the Danube on the northern railway bridge, but if the main high-speed rail line were to be compressed at intervals , this route would hardly be passable. In addition, there were superstructures on the high-speed railway line, which brought stricter requirements for rail traffic with them ( dangerous goods transport ). In addition, the noise pollution from freight trains in densely populated inner-city areas would be reduced by changing the route.
On August 29, 1991, the documents about the project to revitalize the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn were handed over to the railway authorities for assessment. After the plans had been revised and supplemented, the railway law negotiation was carried out on August 30, 1994 and concluded with a positive result. The railway law decision was issued on November 30th.
The first construction work began on December 1, 1994.
In the night from February 11 to February 12, 1995, the bridge over the northern runway was dismantled. Since it was built during the first attempt at revitalizing the Italian loop in 1949, no train had ever used it. It was too weakly dimensioned to withstand the stress of the modern train sets and the ravages of time had gnawed on it in the form of corrosion .
The year 1995 brought an austerity package for budget restructuring, after which the work had to be postponed to 1996. And a neighbor of the revitalized railway line lodged an objection against the decision on February 4, 1995 at the Constitutional Court and on March 30, 1995 at the Administrative Court . On July 2, 1995, the objection was rejected. The building project was of compelling public interest.
After work on the renovation of the viaduct sections began on September 2, 1996, the groundbreaking ceremony took place on September 5, in the presence of Transport Minister Rudolf Scholten .
Numerous bridges were rebuilt to replace the bridges that had been demolished over time.
- June 1, 1997: The 150 ton steel bridge Weinende Bridge over Siemensstrasse was lifted.
- 18./19. October 1997: The 170-ton, 36-meter-long steel bridge over Brünner Strasse was lifted into place during the night.
- January 30, 1998: The 110-ton and 27-meter-long steel bridge at Elin was lifted during the day.
Part of the renovation of the concrete vaults was the removal of the road slab until only 40 centimeters were left between its upper edge and the vault. A reinforced concrete slab that was at least 25 centimeters thick and wider than the original vault was poured onto this area.
The height of the earth dams was reduced by 50 to 100 centimeters in order to adapt the width of the dam crest to the current regulations.
The track construction work began on October 21, 1998.
The route was electrified and provided with noise protection walls , as did the residential buildings built in the immediate vicinity with noise protection windows .
The endurance test took place on December 1, 1998. Since the line was not electrified at that time, the train was pulled by a diesel locomotive. During this test drive, a historical regulation was also applied: a company representative each from the construction company, as well as the planner and the local building supervisor , had to be present and be located under the loaded supporting structures, which they withstood undamaged.
opening
The Floridsdorfer Hochbahn was opened on May 29, 1999 in the presence of members of the Italian Embassy and the Austro-Italian Society in memory of the Italian prisoners of war who helped to build it in 1916.
Information board in the rapid transit station Siemensstraße:
"A memorial for the future
Un monumento commemorativo per i posteri
- A perenne ricordo della costruzione della ferrovia sopraelevata
- avvenuta nel 1916 con l 'impiego di prigionieri di guerra italiani il
- Prof. Wander Bertoni has created the "Ponte delle Lacrime".
- Il collegamento del ponte viene interrotto dalle sofferenze (le lacrime)
- dei prigionieri.
- In reminiscence of the construction of the elevated railway in 1916 by Italians
- Prisoners of war was the "Weeping Bridge" by Professor Wander Bertoni
- created. Through the suffering of the prisoners (tears) the unifying becomes
- disturbed the bridge. "
The Weinende Bridge is located between km 2.0 and 2.2 of the route. The sculpture, which was also built, is on the south side of the track, which also bears the kilometer signs in place of the bridge railing. It simulates two concrete viaduct arches and shows a semicircular arch made of stainless steel, which is interrupted at the top at the apex for a gap, at the two edges of which there is a little liquid flowing out and down, symbolizing the tears.
In 1997 the Hochbahngasse in Floridsdorf was named after the railway line.
Exhibitions
- Floridsdorf district museum : 100 years of the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn. December 1, 2016 to January 29, 2017.
literature
-
M (oriz) Willfort († 1921) : To solve the Vienna rail traffic problem (part 1/2). In: Der Bautechniker , year 1911, No. 22/1911 (XXXI. Year), pp. 512–515. (Online at ANNO ). .
- -: - (Part 2/2). In: Der Bautechniker , year 1911, No. 23/1911 (XXXI. Year), p. 536 ff. (Online at ANNO ). .
- The Viennese railway and station buildings. 35 million cost. In: Reichspost , afternoon edition. No. 524/1916 (XXIIIth year), November 9, 1916, p. 3, center left. (Online at ANNO ). .
- Trade, industry, transport and agriculture. For the construction of the Vienna bypass lines. III. Iron bridge structures. In: Wiener Zeitung , No. 281/1916, December 5, 1916, p. 12, center left. (Online at ANNO ). .
- Hellmuth Fröhlich: Forgotten rails. (...) 27. Jedlersdorf – Leopoldau – Breitenlee Vbf. In: Railway. Bulletin of the Association of Railway Friends. Technical supplement "Die Modelleisenbahn" . Issue 8/1968. Minirex, Lucerne 1968, ISSN 1421-2900 , ISSN 0013-2756 , p. 162.
- Gabriele Dorffner (Ed.): The Floridsdorfer Hochbahn - history and restoration of the "Italian loop " . 4/4 Verlag, Strasshof 1999, ISBN 3-9500908-2-7 .
- Alfred Horn: Railway picture album. Infrastructure construction, vehicle construction, foreign locomotives in Austria, recruitment, shutdowns in Lower Austria . Volume 12: The Last 30 Years, 1978-2007 . Part 2. Bohmann, Vienna 2008, ISBN 978-3-901983-81-8 .
Web links
- The "weeping bridge" on ORF
Individual evidence
- ↑ Trade, Industry, Transport and Agriculture. For the construction of the Vienna bypass lines. II. Jedlersdorf loop. In: Wiener Zeitung , No. 278/1916, December 2, 1916, p. 17 center. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ Trade, Industry and Transport. (...) New railway buildings to relieve the Viennese train stations. In: foreigners sheet with military supplement Die Vedette , morning edition. No. 303/1916 (LXX year), November 1, 1916, p. 13, top center. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ Announcements. Announcement. In: Official Journal of the Wiener Zeitung , No. 62/1916, March 16, 1916, p. 191 (unpaginated), top left. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ^ "The Italian Loop " Construction - Destruction - Decay - Restoration of the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn on bahn-austria.at, accessed on October 1, 2017
- ↑ Trade, Industry, Transport and Agriculture. For the construction of the Vienna bypass lines. I. Breitenlee depot. In: Wiener Zeitung , No. 272/1916, November 24, 1916, p. 12, top right. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ a b Merry: Forgotten rails .
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5HMNr1H9Vk At the driver's cab of an ÖBB Taurus locomotive over the Floridsdorfer Hochbahn / Italian loop, MundiMovie, youtube.com, video (8:45 am, bridge sculpture around 4:20 am), March 12, 2009, accessed June 6, 2016.
- ↑ http://orf.at/stories/2337971/2342215/ Pictures: The elevated railway then and now. Hidden line through Floridsdorf. news.ORF.at. June 5, 2016, accessed June 6, 2016.
Remarks
- ↑ In June 1916 a newspaper advertisement was looking for concrete masons (...) for the construction of the Jedlersdorf railway , in September skilled masons and stonemasons . - See: concrete mason (...). In: Arbeiter-Zeitung , Morgenblatt. No. 167/1916, June 18, 1916, p. 15, center left (online at ANNO ). as well as capable masons (...). In: Arbeiter-Zeitung , Morgenblatt. No. 249/1916, September 8, 1916, p. 10, column 3. (Online at ANNO ). .
- ↑ The 2,000 Italian prisoners of war were preceded by 1,400 Serbian ones (not mentioned in 1999). According to the progress of the work, 150 to 300 civilian workers were working alongside the Italian forces. A linear meter of viaduct in the substructure (without basic redemption) - including the cost of the prisoners of war used in the construction - amounted to around 1,000 crowns . - See: Hermann Beraneck († 1923, age: 69): negotiating paper on the weekly meeting on April 21, 1917 . In: Journal of the Austrian engineering and architects' association . No. 18/1917, Vienna 1917, p. 293 f. - Full text online (PDF; 37 MB) .