Chain bridge (design)

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Horkstow Bridge, England

A chain bridge is a type of suspension bridge that is practically no longer used today , in which not wire ropes , but eye rods or chains are used to carry the bridge deck.

Use of language

The linguistic usage usually does not differentiate whether it is a suspension bridge in the technical sense, in which the chains are attached to the tips of the pylons and support the almost horizontal bridge deck by means of vertical hangers, or whether it is a tension band bridge, which does The bridge deck, which is only intended for pedestrians, rests on the chains and thus describes the same sagging curve as the chains.

The usage of the language is also misleading in that it always speaks of chain bridges, although chains (specially made for this purpose) were only actually used in the early Tibetan and Chinese bridges, while chain links were used in bridges built in Europe from the early 19th century consisted of eye rods (longer iron or later steel rods or rods) that were movably connected to one another by means of eyes and bolts .

description

Types

Chain bridges - just like suspension bridges - can be divided into

  • Tension band bridges in which several chains are anchored parallel to each other on mostly steep and high banks or in massive, brick abutments. Boards that form the sidewalk are attached to these sagging chains; A handrail is regularly formed from chains placed higher up. One example of this type of construction is the Chinese Luding Bridge .
  • "Real" suspension bridges , where the chains are hung over pylons and the deck girder is hung from these chains, with the support chains being anchored outside the pylons and at a considerable distance from them in large anchor blocks. Since the tensile stress of the chains is absorbed by the ground anchorage, the deck girder remains unloaded and can be carried out very easily. The majority of chain bridges are "real" suspension bridges. Well-known examples are Thomas Telford's Menai Bridge to Anglesey Island , the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol , built according to plans by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , or the Széchenyi Chain Bridge in Budapest .
  • “False” suspension bridges , in which the chains suspended over the pylons are not anchored in the subsoil, but are attached to the ends of the road girder, so that the tensile stress of the supporting chains there acts as a compressive force on the road girder, which must be accordingly strong. This variant was only rarely used in the ground that was so flexible that anchor blocks would not have withstood the tensile forces in the long term. Examples are the Mühlentorbrücke in Lübeck , which opened in 1910 as the first self- anchored chain bridge, the Deutz suspension bridge from 1915 , the almost identical Three Sisters in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , USA , built between 1926 and 1928, and the second Reichsbrücke in Vienna, which opened in 1937 .
  • Special forms, such as the Tower Bridge , where iron truss structures were used instead of the carrying chains, and the Albert Bridge in London , where carrying ropes were combined with inclined chains.

Pylons

The pylons of the first real chain suspension bridge, the Tibetan Chagsam Bridge , consisted of large brick, conical pillars. The first small European chain bridges had two cast iron pillars at each end , which were usually stiffened by a cross connection. Almost all of the other, larger chain bridges had massive masonry pillars in the form of a large archway.

Carrying chains

As a rule, several support chains are arranged close to one another on both sides of the track girder, and they often also have their own bolt connections. This is to prevent the breakage of a chain link or a bolt leading to the collapse of the bridge, which happened at the Broughton Suspension Bridge or the bridge in Great Yarmouth .

Carriageway girders

The girder of a chain bridge is practically no different from that of an early suspension bridge. The original method of attaching crossbars to the hangers and laying boards lengthways on them led to significant vibrations. For this reason, as with the suspension bridge, stiffened deck girders were used.

Economical meaning

The chain bridge made it possible for the first time to build spans that far exceeded those of wooden or stone bridges. At the same time, the construction costs as well as the construction time could be reduced significantly.

history

prehistory

Aside from the pedestrian bridges made of natural materials, suspension bridges were originally almost always chain bridges, because laid wire ropes were only invented in 1834 by Oberbergrat Julius Albert in Clausthal and iron, and especially wire , could not initially be produced in such a consistent quality that parallel wire ropes were used in bridge construction would have used.

A Chinese tension ribbon bridge with twenty chains and a span of 60 to 70 m, which is said to have been built in Yunnan in 65 AD , is considered by some authors to be the first chain bridge. It is only known from a report by Athanasius Kircher , published in 1667 , who himself emphasizes that it is a tradition.

The Twärren Bridge , which opened the way through the Swiss Schöllenen Gorge around 1220, was not a bridge, but a wooden walkway attached to an almost vertical rock face with chains.

In Moustiers-Sainte-Marie , in the 13th century, a 135 m long chain made of stainless iron was stretched between two rocky peaks to make a star appear over the French mountain village.

The first verifiable chain bridges were probably the chain bridges also made of stainless iron by the Buddhist philosopher and bridge builder Thangtong Gyelpo in Tibet and Bhutan . The most important of these was the Chagsam Bridge built in 1430 over the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) with a span of approx. 137 m. These bridges existed until modern times and some still exist.

In Europe, Fausto Veranzio presented two sketches of not fully developed chain bridges in his Machinae Novae , published in 1616 .

Luding Bridge

The Luding Bridge in Sichuan , China, built in 1706, is still in use today.

After his stay in Tibet from 1715 to 1721, Ippolito Desideri wrote his large work Report on Tibet , in which the Chagsam Bridge is also mentioned. Due to the dispute between the Jesuits and the Capuchins over responsibility for Tibet, the manuscript was not allowed to be published and disappeared in the Jesuit archives and a private collection until the end of the 19th century.

In 1726 Jacob Leupold published an illustration of a chain bridge with the title One of the Wondrous Chain Bridges in Sina which, instead of Kingtung, was built with boards on 20 iron chains from one mountain peak to the other , which actually appears wondrous when there is no apparent reason, two mountain peaks through to connect a bridge.

Jean-Baptiste Du Halde describes in his work Description de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise , published in 1735 and reissued in 1736, a chain bridge with four suspension chains and some connecting chains in the province of Koei tcheou .

"Le Pont de fer, comme on l'appelle, qui est sur le grand chemin d ' Yun nan dans le Koei tcheou , est l'ouvrage d'un Général Chinois, dont on voit le nom sur une grande piéce de marbre quand on a passé le Pan ho ; c'est un torrent qui n'est pas grand, mais dont le lit est fort profond, Sur chaque bord on a bâti and grande porte entre deux grands massifs de maçonnerie de six à sept pieds de large sur dix-sept à dix-huit de hauteur. De chaque massif Oriental pendent quatre chaînes à grands anneaux, qui sont attachez sur les massifs opposez de la rivière Occidentale, & jointes ensemble par de petites chaînes qui en font comme un retz à grand maille. On a jetté dessus de grosses planches liées les unes après les autres. Mais comme elles se trouvent encore à quelques pas loin de la porte, à cause de la courbure des chaînes qui font ventre, sur-tout lorsqu'elles sont chargées, on a attaché au plein pied de la porte des consoles, qui soutiennet un plancher , lequel aboutit jusqu'aux planches portées par les chaînes. On a élevé sur les bords de ces aix de petits pilastres de bois, qui soutiennent un petit toict de même matiére continué jusqu'à l'un & l'autre bord, & appuyant ses bouts sur les massifs. »

“The iron bridge, as it is called and which is located on the great way from Yunnan to Koftou ( note: part of today's Guizhou ), is the work of a Chinese general whose name is on a large marble tablet after crossing the Pan ho stands. The raging river is not big, but it has a very deep bed. A great gate has been built on each bank between two large blocks of masonry, six to seven feet wide and seventeen to eighteen feet high. On each of the western blocks hang four chains with large chain links, which are attached to the eastern blocks on the other bank and are connected to each other by small chains and thus form a kind of large-meshed network. Thick, interconnected boards were placed on top. Because of the slack in the chains, especially when they are loaded, these boards end a few steps from the gates. Consoles have therefore been installed in front of the threshold of the gates, on which there is a board that extends to the boards lying on the chains. On the banks of this body of water, small wooden pillars have been erected that support a small, also wooden roof that extends from one bank to the other and is supported with its ends on the masonry blocks. "

He reports on another one in King Tong Fou in Yunnan Province, where he particularly mentions the terrifying vibrations when several people use it.

"A son Occident se trouve un de ces Ponts que j'ai décrit ailleurs, qui sont appuyez sur des chaines de fer. La vue des précipices, & l'agitation du Pont, lorsque plusieurs personnes y passent ensemble, ne manquent pas d'effrayer ceux qui y marchent pour la première fois. »

“On the western outskirts of the city is one of the bridges that I described above and that are supported on iron chains. The look into the abyss and the movement of the bridge when several people use it at the same time do not fail to frighten those who use it for the first time. "

First western chain bridges

The first chain bridge in Europe was the Winch Bridge, built around 1741 over the Tees in northern England . The about 21 m long and 61 cm wide tensioning ribbon bridge below the Low Force Waterfall about two miles north of Middleton-in-Teesdale was mainly used by miners as access to a nearby mine. It collapsed in 1802, was rebuilt and replaced by a suspension bridge with suspension chains in 1830.

In Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA , Thomas Gilpin proposed in 1774 to cross the Schuylkill River with a chain bridge in the manner of the Chinese tension ribbon bridges with a span of 100 m; however, the proposal remained.

The town of Weilburg an der Lahn lost the bridge for the pipes for the water supply due to a flood in 1784 . In an emergency, first one, later a total of eight, iron rod chains were stretched across the Lahn, from which the water pipes were hung.

In Wörlitzer Park a chain bridge was built in the 1780s and 1790s, spanning a small canal between artificial rocks. The fluctuations in the very light construction were intentional in order to awaken intense sensual sensations in visitors to the romantic section of the park.

The Steinfurter Bagno park near Burgsteinfurt was given a chain bridge in 1794.

View of a Chain Bridge by James Finley

In 1801 James Finley built the Jacob's Creek Bridge with a span of 21 m between Uniontown and Greensburg in Fayette County (Pennsylvania) , USA. After the Tibetan Chagsam Bridge, it was the first real suspension bridge in which two support chains are guided over pylons and the horizontally running bridge deck is attached to the support chains. It is noticeable that the carrying chains of the Jacob's Creek Bridge reach below the bridge deck, so that the 3.80 m wide carriageway is partly carried by the chains and partly suspended from them. Jacob's Creek Bridge was the first suspension bridge that could be used by vehicles. It is considered the forerunner of all modern suspension bridges. Finley built other similarly constructed bridges, including the significantly larger chain bridge at Falls of Schuylkill with a span of 61 m , which he patented. However, Finley had difficulties with the new technology to prevail over the widespread wooden truss bridges, which consisted of a cheaper material, with the processing of which there was long experience. Nor could he prevent third parties from making improper simplifications, which led to collapses. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars , James Finley had little influence on European development.

In Scotland they tried in 1817 with the Dryburgh Bridge, a kind of inclined chain bridge, but it collapsed after a short time and had a deterrent effect on further bridge construction.

In England efforts were made to improve the material. Captain Samuel Brown and Messrs. Brunton put a hydraulic testing system into operation in London, which had a pulling force of up to 100 tons and thus enabled reliable knowledge of the material properties for the first time. William Hawks and Samuel Brown developed improved eye rods with perforated or forged eyes between 1805 and 1818.

Main phase of the chain bridges

In 1820, Samuel Brown opened the Union Bridge on the Scottish-English border, the first suspension bridge in Europe that could also be used by wagons. It is also the oldest suspension bridge that is still used by road traffic.

Claude Navier published a first fundamental treatise on suspension bridges in 1823, which was soon translated into German and reprinted in 1830.

In Germany, the Kettensteg in Nuremberg was opened in 1824 , the oldest chain bridge on the European continent. A little later, the Rotunda Bridge over the Danube Canal in Vienna was released for use by pedestrians and horses.

Menai Bridge

Thomas Telford , who among other things was in charge of building the road from Chester to Bangor , completed the Menai Bridge from Wales to Anglesey in 1826 , which had already been started in 1819. With its span of 176 m and a clearance height of 30 m, it exceeded all bridges of this type of construction that had previously been built. Shortly afterwards, the Conwy Suspension Bridge, which he also built, followed on the same road .

The builder Wilhelm von Traitteur became known for his chain bridges, which he built in St. Petersburg in particular .

In the Habsburg Monarchy , various chain bridges were built by Friedrich Schnirch between 1824 and 1864 .

This construction method had achieved its breakthrough in most European countries. A number of other chain bridges were built, such as B. the Egyptian Bridge in Saint Petersburg , the Chain Bridge in Malapane in Silesia , the Friedrich Wilhelm Bridge in Mülheim (1844-1909), the Neckar Bridge in Mannheim (1845) and the Weser Bridge (Porta Westfalica) (1865) or that of William Tierney Clark in London built Hammersmith Bridge with the next record span of 210 m. Only in France were hardly any chain bridges built, as wire rope suspension bridges were almost exclusively built there under the influence of Marc Seguin .

Szechenyi Chain Bridge

Other significant bridges include the Széchenyi Chain Bridge , also opened in 1849 by William Tierney Clark, over the Danube in Budapest with a span of 202 m, the Empress Elisabeth Bridge over the Elbe in Tetschen (Děčín) in today's Czech Republic and the Nicholas Chain Bridge in Kiev , which crossed the Dnepr in four consecutive fields with spans of 143 m each and a total length of 776 m.

The connecting railway bridge over the Vienna Danube Canal, put into operation in 1860, was the first railway bridge in the form of a "fake", back-anchored chain bridge.

The construction of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol , begun in 1831 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , was completed in 1864 after various difficulties. It has a span of 214 m.

In 1868, the Franz Joseph Bridge / Eliščin most (Elisen Bridge) , planned according to the system of Rowland Mason Ordish , was opened in Prague , a chain bridge with inclined chains in the manner of the later cable-stayed bridges . The Albert Bridge in London was then built according to the same system, but it was not very successful and had to be improved several times.

With the construction of the Tower Bridge in London inaugurated in 1894 , a combined suspension and bascule bridge that is probably unique in this form, and the Elizabeth Bridge in Budapest, which opened in 1903 , the era of chain bridges had probably reached its climax.

From the later period, the Kaiserbrücke (Breslau) (1910) (today Grunwaldbrücke in Wrocław) and the Deutz suspension bridge , a back-anchored chain bridge opened in 1915, as well as the also anchored Three Sisters in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , which were built in 1924, should be mentioned in particular –1928 built over the Allegheny River . The Hercílio Luz Bridge in Brazil , completed in 1926, has the largest span of all chain bridges in the world at 339.5 m. The Silver Bridge over the Ohio River , built two years later, is similar to it. The last large chain bridges were probably the Vienna Reichsbrücke, opened in 1937, and the Crimean Bridge in Moscow, completed in 1938 .

Trailer

In 1992, the Neuperlach chain bridge was built in Munich to lead a footpath and cycle path over a four-lane road. In 2005, a back-anchored chain bridge was opened over the Lahn in Nassau , the design of which was chosen to preserve the long familiar cityscape with a chain bridge. Finally, a new building followed in 2010 in Bamberg , which had a historical forerunner with a wrought iron chain bridge that stood from 1829 to 1891.

Street names

In Vienna, the Kettenbrückengasse is named after the Chain Bridge (later renamed Rudolfsbrücke ) over the Wien River that existed from 1828–1915 . The river was then built over, and this is where the Kettenbrückengasse underground station is located .

In Germany there is a Kettenbrückstraße in Bamberg as well as in Nassau (Lahn) . In Mülheim an der Ruhr a chain bridge was built in 1844 (until 1909; today: Schloßbrücke) and there was a chain bridge ( at least from 1872 to 1892) (today roughly: Leineweberstraße).

Web links

Commons : Chain Bridges  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Robert Stevenson: Description of Bridges of Suspension. In: The Edinburgh Philosophical Journal , edited by Sir David Brewster, Robert Jameson. Volume 5, No. 10, Edinburgh 1821, p. 237.
  2. ^ William Humber: A Complete Treatise on Cast and Wrought Iron Bridge Construction. Lockwood & Co., London 1870, pp. 74 f.
  3. ↑ Athanasius Kircher: China monumentis, qua sacris qua profanis, nec non variis naturae et artis spectaculis, aliarumque rerum memorabilium argumentis illustrata. Chinae illustratae; Pars V, de Architectonice . 1667, pp. 215/298 (book / file).
  4. ↑ The section reads:
    “In provincia Iunnan supra profundissimam vallem, per quam torrens rapidissimo aquarum fluxu, atque impetu volvitur, pons spectatur, quem Mingus Hamae familiae Imperator anno Christi 65 condidisse fertur. non lateritio opere, aut ingentium saxorum coagmentatione, sed crassissimis ferreis catenis ad annulos hamis, uncisque, et utraque montium parte, ita firmatos, ut superimpositis afferibus pontem extruxerit; catenae sunt 20, quarum unaquaeque 20 perticarum, id est, 300 palmorum longitudinem habet, quem cum plures simul transeunt, pons titubat ac hinc indè movetur, non absque transeuntium metu ruinae percullsorum, horrore & vertigine; ut proindè satis mirari non possim Sinensium Architectorum dexteritatem, qua ad itinerantium commoditatem tot ac tam ardua opera attentare are ausi. "
    " In the province of Junnan you can see a bridge over a very deep valley with a very fast flowing brook, which supposedly in 65 ad was built by the Emperor Ming from the Han Dynasty, and which is not made of bricks or stone masonry, but of very strong iron chains that are attached to the mountains with rings and hooks at both ends so that the boards attached to them a bridge is created. There are 20 chains, each 20 measuring rods (pertica), ie 300 hand spans long. When several people cross the bridge at the same time, it swings and moves from side to side so that people don't cross over as quickly as possible without fear, dizziness, and fear of falling. I cannot admire enough the skill of the Chinese architects who have dared to embark on such a large and difficult work for the convenience of travelers. "
  5. ^ Jacob Leupold: Theatrum pontificiale, or show place of bridges and bridge structures . Leipzig 1726. Tab: LVII; File p. 300.
  6. ↑ Description of the empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise. 1736, p. 72 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Description of the empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise. 1736, p. 250 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ I. Bulmann: Winch Bridge , watercolor with pen and pencil drawing, 1774 from the British Library, Online Gallery
  9. ↑ Eda Kranakis: Constructing a Bridge: An Exploration of Engineering Culture, Design, and Research in Nineteenth-Century France and America . Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997, ISBN 0-262-11217-5 , p. 32.
  10. ↑ Chain Bridge to Wörlitz , colored outline etching by Johann Friedrich Nagel, approx. 1790
  11. ↑ Photo of the Chain Bridge in Wörlitzer Park
  12. ^ Image of Jacob's Creek Bridge , accessed February 4, 2013
  13. ↑ James Finley: Finley's Chain Bridge. In: The Port Folio, Vol. III , pp. 440-453.
  14. ↑ Eda Kranakis: Constructing a Bridge: An Exploration of Engineering Culture, Design, and Research in Nineteenth-Century France and America . Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997, ISBN 0-262-11217-5 , pp. 74, 84.
  15. ↑ Tom F. Peters: The development of the large bridge construction . 2nd Edition. ETH, Zurich 1980, p. 55.
  16. ^ Claude Navier: Report to Monsieur Becquey, conseiller d'état, directeur général des ponts et chaussées et des mines; et mémoire on the ponts suspendus. Imprimerie Royale, Paris 1823
  17. ↑ bernd-nebel.de Article about suspension bridges
  18. ↑ Chain Bridge Bamberg , website "inFranken.de" (accessed on November 27, 2013)
  19. ↑ freimaurer-wiki.de Freemason Wiki: Broich, July 24, 2012, accessed September 14, 2015.
  20. ^ Adressbuecher.genealogy.net Historical Address Books, Verein für Computergenealogie, Entry: Adam, Wilh., 1872, accessed September 14, 2015.
  21. ↑ books.google.at Hugo Stinnes: Biography of an industrialist, 1870–1924; Gerald D. Feldmann, p. 23, Google Books, accessed September 14, 2015.