Haggen Bridge
The Hagge bridge is built in 1936-37, 355.5 m long steel - truss bridge over the Sitter . It connects the St. Gallen district of Haggen with the Appenzell Ausserrhoder municipality of Stein . Although originally designed as a car bridge, it can only be used as a pedestrian bridge due to static vibrations . Because of its sway, it is popularly known as “Ganggelibrugg”.
Technical specifications
The Haggenbrücke is 355.50 m long, at its highest point 98.6 m high, 3.8 m wide and has a gradient of 3.9% from the Appenzeller in the direction of St. Gallen (14 m height difference). Around 350 tons of steel were used for the half-timbered construction. The bridge stands on twelve pillars, which are concreted directly on the rock and sometimes reach up to three meters below the water level of the Sitter. The bridge is not rigidly connected to the Haggen abutment, but rests on strong rollers which absorb the displacement that occurs. The Zwicker locksmith's workshop in St. Gallen manufactured and installed over 700 m of railings. The total cost of the bridge was CHF 348,826 .
Building history
The old mule track through the Sitter Gorge was arduous, dangerous and often in poor condition. In 1885, the first idea arose to build a direct bridge instead of the two short wooden bridges in the gorge. In the context of the economic crisis and the stagnation of the home industry, however, the project failed due to funding. In 1920 a second attempt failed. In 1926 the young engineer Rudolf Dick presented plans and cost calculations for an iron bridge, which he had created on his own initiative, at a meeting of interested parties in Bad Störgel. But it was not until the 365 steps of the so-called Hundwiler Ladder were in need of renovation again in 1933 that the bridge project was taken seriously. The contract was ultimately awarded to a working group of Rudolf Dick from Lucerne and Ernst Scheer from Herisau.
The financing was guaranteed by the traffic fund, the city of St. Gallen, the municipality of Stein, the federal government, the canton and private individuals. The large participation of private individuals gave the building the aura of a people's bridge.
The bridge was built freely from the Steiner side. The material staging area was at the Schäfli restaurant in the Störgel. Although the building, which was spectacular at the time, was quite dangerous for the workers, there was only one accident, which was only minor. The then 20-year-old apprentice mason, Ernst Buob, fell 36 m, was slowed down by a fir tree and survived.
The endurance test was successfully carried out on October 28, 1937 with six 8-ton cars. But when 5600 visitors stayed on the bridge for the opening ceremony on October 31, 1937, it began to vibrate threateningly. The cantonal engineer from Appenzell AR then produced a worrying report. Despite improvements, the bridge could never be approved for car traffic.
In 2010 the bridge was completely renovated by Basler & Hofmann, the foundations repaired and the old concrete and asphalt pavement, which was originally intended for the car bridge, was replaced with a lighter steel ceiling. The bridge reopened on October 24, 2010.
meaning
The Haggenbrücke is registered in the Swiss inventory of cultural assets as an object of national importance. The Haggen Bridge was never able to fulfill its original function as a car bridge and an important transport link between Stein and St. Gallen. As a pedestrian bridge, on the other hand, it is a popular destination. The spectacular view over the Sitter- and Wattbachtobel, the swaying in strong winds or under load as well as the easy access to the municipality of Stein AR for hiking trips give the "Ganggelibrugg" a local meaning.
The bridge was also repeatedly used for suicides , which is why warning signs were put up early on. In 2010, safety nets were installed as part of the overall renovation.
The two old covered wooden bridges over Wattbach and Sitter in the valley below the «Ganggelibrugg» still exist. The hiking trail along the Wattbach leads over the Sitter Bridge to the south and then steeply up to the Appenzell side of the steel bridge. The wooden bridge over the Wattbach no longer serves any purpose, because the path of the "Hundwiler Ladder" up to the St. Gallen end of the Haggenbrücke has now been completely destroyed by erosion. The footpath from the Sitterbrücke up to the St. Galler Ende takes a detour today, which crosses the Wattbach about 500 meters further east by means of the “bridge at the former north mill” (see St. Galler Brückenweg ).
literature
- pd: The construction of the Haggenbrücke. The history of Ganggelibrugg. (PDF; 240 kB) In: Homepage of the Riethüsli district association (accessed on October 7, 2012).
- Willi Rohner, Willyringenisen , Paul Preisig: 1749–1999. 250 years of the Stein AR community. Berneck 1999, pp. 58-62.
- Susanna Schoch: Construction of the Haggen Bridge. In: Homepage Appenzell history in contemporary witnesses (accessed on October 7, 2012).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Schoch, contemporary witnesses.
- ↑ a b pd, QV Riethüsli. ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 240 kB)
- ↑ Homepage baslerhofmann.ch (accessed October 29, 2019).
Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '59.2 " N , 9 ° 20' 21.7" E ; CH1903: 743473 / 251620