Margaret Bridge (Budapest)
Coordinates: 47 ° 30 ′ 53 ″ N , 19 ° 2 ′ 37 ″ E
| Margaret Bridge | ||
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| Official name | Margit híd | |
| use | Road traffic | |
| Convicted | Szent István utca | |
| Crossing of | Danube | |
| place | Budapest in Hungary | |
| construction | Arch bridge (arch under roadway) made of steel | |
| overall length | 637 m | |
| width | 16 m | |
| Longest span | 87.88 m | |
| start of building | 1872 | |
| opening | 1876 | |
| planner | Ernest Goüin | |
| location | ||
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| Above sea level | 98 m | |
The Margaret Bridge ( Hungarian Margit híd ) is one of nine road bridges over the Danube in Hungary's capital Budapest . It is one of the few remaining older bridges over the Danube with stone pillars .
Location and course
The bridge runs over the southern tip of Margaret Island , from which the two bridge parts, each with three segment arches, start. Then the construction got its name. The pillars are connected by steel arches below the roadway. A special feature of the Margaret Bridge is that it consists of two parts, each with three segment arches, which meet on Margaret Island and form an angle of 150 degrees there. At this point an additional wing bridge leads to Margaret Island and forms a seventh bridge arch.
history
The design for the bridge comes from the French engineer Ernest Goüin , who also directed the construction from 1872–1876. When it was inaugurated, the structure was the second bridge over the Danube that connected the two districts of Buda and Pest. The branch to Margaret Island was not included in the original design; it was subsequently integrated in 1900. The bridge was widened between 1935 and 1939.
Like all other bridges, the Margaret Bridge was equipped with explosives by the Wehrmacht . On November 4, 1944 (a Saturday) at half past two in the afternoon, 40 days before the German and Hungarian troops in Budapest were even surrounded by the Red Army , the installed mines had accidentally detonated. According to the investigation report, the explosion had occurred because, after taking over the watch from the Hungarians, the Germans had activated the primer mounted on the bridge as a practice and the fuse had ignited due to a spark that jumped from a passing ship. Two arches on the Pest side had been torn off. At the time of the explosion, there were about 800 people on the bridge - including a fully occupied tram. Some people were rescued from a passing steamship. The exact number of victims has not been determined; a contemporary study suggests around 600 people. 40 German pioneers were also among the victims.
Since the bridge had partially collapsed, but not completely destroyed, it was wired again during the retreat of the German and Hungarian troops on the Buda side of the basin and on January 18, 1945 it was blown up again and then completely.
In August 1948 the Margaret Bridge was reopened after two years of reconstruction. At the end of the 1970s, it was completely restored and again subsequently widened.
In August 2009, the renovation of the bridge by the companies Strabag and Hídépítö began. The complex construction work resulted in a technology that used two gantry cranes from both banks. The handover to the car traffic took place in November 2010, the final construction work lasted until spring 2011.
On May 29, 2019, there was a shipwreck at Margaret Bridge , in which a cruise ship with the smaller excursion ship Hableány collided with 33 South Korean tourists and two Hungarian crew members, whereupon the smaller ship sank within seven seconds. Only seven passengers could be saved.
Bridge details
The arches are as steel truss executed. The protective coating was renewed during the general renovation, its light beige color is based on the original plans. Your river pillars received a striking sandstone ornament (see picture). The roadway is illuminated at night by three-part wrought - iron candelabra . In addition, the entire structure received energy-saving new lighting from LED headlights, which was carried out by Willy Meyer und Sohn GmbH .
The bridge in the media
The bridge is depicted on a 30 Fillér postage stamp from 1964.
Web links
- Margaret Bridge ( Memento from January 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Hungarian)
- Margaret Bridge (Budapest). In: Structurae
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Margaret Bridge at www.budapest.citysam.de
- ↑ Pontoon instead of Margaret Bridge. The renovation of the Margaret Bridge in Budapest begins in August 2009 on www.pesterlloyd.net; Retrieved August 21, 2013
- ↑ Light-footed 16-t portal cranes renovate the Budapest Margaret Bridge at www.mm-logistik.vogel.de; Retrieved August 21, 2013
- ↑ Die Welt : There has long been concern within the industry about a serious accident , article dated May 30, 2019, last accessed on May 31, 2019
- ↑ Light installation of the Margaret Bridge ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.meyer-lighting.com; Retrieved August 21, 2013
