Kastor suspension bridge

The Kastor suspension bridge

The Kastor suspension bridge is a pedestrian bridge in Engelskirchen - Loope . The bridge spans a tributary of the Agger and connects the area of the disused Castor mine with Ehreshoven . The bridge is a listed building.

Location and description

The bridge is located on a tributary of the Agger, approx. 200 meters west of the Ehreshoven I dam . It connects the districts of Ehreshoven and Kastor. The 33-meter-long suspension bridge , which is 60 meters long with ramps, is a wooden structure that hangs on eight steel cables. Because of the way the bridge is built, vibrations occur when it is walked on, which is why locals also call the bridge the "swing bridge".

Suspension bridge around 1895. In the background the Castor pit

History and use

The bridge was built around 1860. From this decade comes a “weight calculation and calculation of the load-bearing capacity of the Castor suspension bridge” from April 1867, which includes two drawings on a scale of 1:72 and 1:36. The royal government approved the construction project of the Altenberg mining company on July 8, 1867. On December 4, 1869, an overview of the costs and an "Invoicing of the Castor Pit" are dated.

Count Maximilian von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven , lord of the Ehreshoven Castle , as the owner of the site, opposed the construction of a massive bridge. Two indirect indications suggest that a bridge already existed there before the suspension bridge was built. The “weight calculation of the new wire rope suspension bridge” should contain “4 new wire ropes” according to two calculations . However, since the construction created in 1867 comprised eight ropes, a bridge may have stood at this point before.

The design of the bridge as a suspension bridge with ropes is probably due to the fact that ropes were available due to the nearby pit. In addition, this construction offered the possibility of using less wood than would have been necessary for a solid wooden bridge. Possibly the builders wanted to use the flexibility of a suspension bridge in order to facilitate the transport of the transported lorries with the generated momentum .

The bridge was used to transport processed zinc and lead ores that were extracted in the Castor and Bruno II pits . The ore was transported in carts that ran on rails and were pushed by hand. The lorries were emptied into transport vehicles in a revolving platform on a ramp at the end of the bridge. Before the Aggertalbahn was put into operation , horse-drawn vehicles transported the ores to the Siegburg railway siding. With the opening of the Ehreshoven station in 1884, the bridge ramp was given its own siding to the station. More than 100,000 tons of ore were transported over the bridge.

After the mining operations were closed in 1926, the rails on the bridge were used as pedestrian crossings.

The bridge has been renovated several times over the years. The first renovation took place in 1925. In 1950 the wooden structure and the pylons were renewed . At the same time, the rails were removed and a new wooden flooring was laid. In 1974 the corroded ropes were replaced and anchored in reinforced concrete slabs. In 1990 the bridge was closed due to static problems. The municipality of Engelskirchen then planned the demolition of the wooden bridge and the construction of a new concrete bridge at the same location. However, the bridge was restored, largely in-house by the local citizens' association, and reopened on May 12, 1996.

Individual evidence

↑ Listed buildings in the municipality of Engelskirchen , accessed on February 14, 2016
↑ ^a ^b Karl-Heinz Lüdenbach: Schwungbrücke: suspension bridge between Ehreshoven and Kastor . In: Heinrich Lüdenbach: Loope . A home book. Ed .: Citizens and Beautification Association Loope e. V. Joh. Heider Verlag GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach 2012, ISBN 978-3-87314-473-6 , p. 90-91 .
↑ ^a ^b Toni Jouy, Ursula Schmidt-Goertz: A technical work of art blossoms in the dark. In: Rheinisch-Bergischer Calendar 2000. Heider-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach, p. 165.
↑ Toni Jouy, Ursula Schmidt-Goertz: A technical work of art blooms in the dark. In: Rheinisch-Bergischer Calendar 2000. Heider-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach, pp. 165–166.

Web links

Commons : Kastor suspension bridge - collection of images, videos and audio files

Citizen and Beautification Association Loope eV, Schwungbrücke Kastor, accessed on November 1, 2014
Despite God's blessing from above, the looper celebrated their suspension bridge , accessed on November 1, 2014

50.978872 7.345114Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 43.9 ″ N , 7 ° 20 ′ 42.4 ″ E

[1] Listed buildings in the municipality of Engelskirchen , accessed on February 14, 2016

[LoopeHeimatbuch-2] Karl-Heinz Lüdenbach: Schwungbrücke: suspension bridge between Ehreshoven and Kastor . In: Heinrich Lüdenbach: Loope . A home book. Ed .: Citizens and Beautification Association Loope e. V. Joh. Heider Verlag GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach 2012, ISBN 978-3-87314-473-6 , p. 90-91 .

[Kalender-3] Toni Jouy, Ursula Schmidt-Goertz: A technical work of art blossoms in the dark. In: Rheinisch-Bergischer Calendar 2000. Heider-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach, p. 165.

[4] Toni Jouy, Ursula Schmidt-Goertz: A technical work of art blooms in the dark. In: Rheinisch-Bergischer Calendar 2000. Heider-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach, pp. 165–166.