Chain Bridge (Aarau)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1948: the old chain bridge is demolished, the new one is already standing next to it

The Chain Bridge in Aarau is a concrete bridge built in 1948/49. It crosses the Aare , has two lanes and sidewalks on both sides. The 108 meter long and 15 meter wide bridge rests on two pillars. It connects the old town on the south side with the Scheibenschachen district on the north side, where the main roads branch off to Erlinsbach AG and Küttigen .

history

The chain bridge from the glass factory on August 23, 1947

The oldest Aare bridge in the Aarau area goes back to the time of the Romans . In the winter of 1976/77, divers found mighty oak posts with iron tips near today's hydroelectric power station . It was the remains of bridge yokes from the 2nd or 3rd century. The bridge connected the main road Vindonissa - Aventicum ( Windisch - Avenches ) with a side road over the Salhöhe in the direction of Augusta Raurica ( Augst ).

A little further downstream, the first crossing was made at the current location in the Middle Ages. It was first mentioned in a document in 1331 in the land register of the Einsiedeln monastery . Another document dated April 1, 1334 mentions severe damage to the abutment by floods. This bridge was replaced between 1407 and 1415. It consisted of a longer covered part from the city gate to a river island in Scheibenschachen and a shorter part from the island to the northern bank. Repeated floods caused severe damage. The surrounding villages had to provide building materials free of charge, but were exempt from the bridge toll . Two dozen villages north of the Aare also enjoyed a certain freedom from customs duties, as they had to deliver grain and bread to the city. In the 18th century the course of the Aare shifted slightly to the north, so that the four southernmost yokes stood dry.

The wooden bridge collapsed during a flood in mid-September 1831. Due to disputes over competence and incompetent site managers, the new building took over seven years to complete and was not completed until October 1838. During this time, the traffic had to be handled by ferries. In July 1843, the new bridge also collapsed during another flood. The discussions about reconstruction dragged on for four years; During this time, a ferry service had to step in again. Finally, in 1848 , the community assembly decided to build a modern bridge.

It was created under the direction of engineer Jean Gaspard Dollfuss from Mulhouse . It was opened to traffic on December 28, 1850 and officially inaugurated on January 6, 1851. The structure, known as the chain bridge , was a suspension bridge made of steel link chains with a span of 96 meters. Two chains on each side were arranged one above the other and stiffened by intermediate rods. The chain elements consisted of flat iron links and were attached to the intermediate rods and hanging rods via brackets. At both ends there were classicist double gates made of shell limestone blocks, in which the chain suspensions and anchors were cast. The wooden crossbeams of the carriageway were replaced by iron ones in 1876, the wooden railings in 1888.

The chain bridge initially met the requirements, but over time it turned out to be too expensive to maintain and weight restrictions had to be issued. For example, the Postbuses were not allowed to drive over with more than 55 passengers and the soldiers from the nearby barracks were not allowed to run through them. Several reports by ETH professor Mirko Roš questioned the sustainability. Finally it was replaced by a concrete bridge in 1948/49. The previous name was retained. At the southern end of the bridge, some chain links from the original chain bridge are on display, along with an information board about the history of the bridge.

Successor to the 1949 bridge

North side of the Chain Bridge

The end of the 1949 Chain Bridge began in July 2019 when construction of a new bridge began. The building department of the canton of Aargau carried out a tender process in 2010. The winning project Pont Neuf (German for "New Bridge") called for the demolition of the existing bridge except for the two pillars. The new concrete building takes up the design language of earlier stone bridges. Construction was scheduled to start in 2017, but was delayed due to objections. Although the submission process had not even started in January 2019 , it was determined that work on an installation space would begin in July 2019. From there, an auxiliary bridge will be built, after which the bridge from 1949 will be demolished and the new construction will take place.

literature

Web links

Commons : Kettenbrücke Aarau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Lüthi et al .: History of the City of Aarau. P. 678.
  2. ^ Lüthi et al .: History of the City of Aarau. Pp. 35-37.
  3. ^ Lüthi et al .: History of the City of Aarau. Pp. 231-236.
  4. ^ Lüthi et al .: History of the City of Aarau. Pp. 467-471.
  5. ↑ Othmar Birkner: INSA. P. 122.
  6. ^ New construction of the Aare bridge in Aarau. Building Department of the Canton of Aargau, Civil Engineering Department, June 29, 2011, accessed on July 27, 2011 .
  7. ↑ Construction begins after the May Parade , Aargauer Zeitung, January 9, 2019, page 23

Coordinates: 47 ° 23 '43.5 "  N , 8 ° 2' 31.4"  E ; CH1903:  645556  /  249573