Landwasser Viaduct
Coordinates: 46 ° 40 ′ 51 " N , 9 ° 40 ′ 34" E ; CH1903: 771161 / 172,405
| Landwasser Viaduct | ||
|---|---|---|
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| use | railroad | |
| Crossing of | Land water | |
| place | Filisur and Schmitten | |
| construction | Stone arch bridge | |
| overall length | 136 m | |
| Number of openings | 6th | |
| Clear width | 20 m | |
| height | 65 m | |
| building-costs | 280,000 CHF | |
| start of building | March 1901 | |
| completion | October 1902 | |
| opening | July 1903 | |
| construction time | 1 ½ years | |
| Status | in use | |
| location | ||
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| Above sea level | 1054 m above sea level M. | |
The Landwasserviadukt is a 65 meter high and 136 meter long railway bridge in the network of the Rhaetian Railway near the Filisur station and is a landmark of the railway company. Around 22,000 trains cross the viaduct every year, around 60 every day. The viaduct has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 7, 2008 . Under the KGS no. 3009 and 10499, as it is located in two municipal areas, it is included twice on the list of cultural assets of national importance in the canton of Graubünden as the “Schmittentobel-Landwasser Viaduct of the Rhaetian Railway”.
location
The bridge, made of dark limestone , is located on the route from Tiefencastel (in the Plessur Alps ) to Filisur (in the Albula Alps ) in the Swiss canton of Graubünden at route kilometers 63,070 and is a monument of the Albula Railway . The bridge stands on the municipality of Filisur and Schmitten .
The Landwasser Viaduct can be seen from afar on the drive from Alvaneu . First, the Schmittener Tobel Viaduct is driven, which is also of considerable size. In the curve on the bridge you can watch the train going into the Landwasser tunnel . The railway line from Davos to Filisur joins the Tiefencastel line shortly before the train station and gives travelers a view of the structure from a north-easterly direction.
A footpath branches off from the Alvaneu – Filisur road at the bridge over the Landwasser , and it takes ten minutes to get to the foundation of the viaduct.
description
The railway line has a gradient of 20 per thousand in the area of the viaduct and an arc with a radius of 100 meters in the ground plan. The land water is bridged with six 20 meter wide vaults that rest on five high pillars. The southeastern abutment of the bridge lies in the middle of a high rock face, and the tracks lead directly into the 216 m long Landwasser tunnel. The masonry measures around 9200 cubic meters and is clad with lime dolomite.
construction
The bridge was built in March 1901 by Müller & Zeerleder, the engineer was Alexander Acatos . The first trains were able to enter the structure in October of the following year. During the construction period, a field railway track was laid to the construction site from Albula Street, about 800 m away, and a limestone quarry about 500 m downstream . There was a workshop for this field railway near the quarry . The peculiarity was that the three main pillars were built up without scaffolding for cost reasons and because of the flood risk of the Landwasser; that was very unusual at the time. In order to get by without scaffolding, an iron supporting tower was erected inside each tower, which was also walled in. A crane bridge was attached to this iron structure. As the construction height increased, the iron tower was extended upwards and the crane bridge was pulled up further. The material could then be hoisted up with an electric winch on the crane bridge. The construction costs at the time were CHF 280,000 .
Redevelopment
After 106 years, repairs were necessary in 2009. In the summer of 2009, the entire viaduct was renovated while it was still in operation. The cost was 4.6 million Swiss francs. For the duration of the renovation, the entire viaduct including all pillars was provided with scaffolding. The renovation was carried out in such a way that the observer, apart from a brightening, no change in the building can be seen. This was also necessary because the Landwasser Viaduct has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since July 2008 and therefore no changes to the landscape are permitted. The entire joints of the masonry were reinforced by injections from the outside, whereby the masonry is still in perfect condition even after over 100 years of operation. In addition, a new concrete track substructure and new rails were installed on the bridge. The side of the concrete trough was covered with granite masonry so that the concrete cannot be seen from the side when looking at the viaduct. Despite the extensive work that lasted several months and was carried out day and night in shifts, all trains were able to run according to schedule. About a quarter of the work did not allow trains to travel; it was done during the night. So that the bridge could also be driven on during the hardening time of the freshly concreted sections, these were each spanned with temporary bridges. In the construction site area, the train drivers had to reduce the speed to 10 km / h. The renovation took around 24,000 hours of work and took eight months. Construction started on March 9th. First the scaffolding took place, which took several weeks due to the size.
Varia
A smaller version of the Landwasser Viaduct is the Castielertobel Viaduct on the Chur – Arosa railway line , which also leads directly into a tunnel in a similarly spectacular setting. However, when it was renovated in 1942 because of an unstable base, it was given an upper part of a completely different construction, which also significantly changed its appearance.
Another similar-looking railway bridge is the Žampach Viaduct in Central Bohemia near Prague in the Czech Republic from 1898, which is said to have been the highest bridge of this type in Central Europe when it was built.
gallery
Panorama car of the Glacier Express entering the Landwasser tunnel
View from the street
View from the northeast
During the renovation, summer 2009
Schmittentobel Viaduct as seen from the rock above the Landwasser tunnel
Landwasser and Landwasser Viaduct (2011)
View from the train to the viaduct & tunnel entrance (summer 2016)
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See also
- Cultural property protection list KSG list Bergün Filisur
- Cultural property protection list KSG list Schmitten
Web links
- Website of the Rhaetian Railway
- Landwasser Viaduct at www.graubuendenkultur.ch
- Webcam of the Landwasser Viaduct on the RhB website
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b K.M .: The new lines of the Rhaetian Railway: the arched bridges of the Albula Railway . In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung , Vol. 43/44 (1904), p. 45
Remarks
- ↑ a b 136 meters in length probably refer to the clear width between the abutments. The book “Rhaetian Railway today - tomorrow - yesterday” on page 293 names 141.7 meters in length, which can mean the distance between the first and last stone of the bridge in the line's axis.
- ↑ Or the one , as it can be read on the information boards on site, for example.