Rüdlingen Rhine Bridge

Rüdlingen Rhine Bridge (1870)
use	Road bridge
Crossing of	Rhine , km 67.8
place	Rudlingen , Flaach
construction	Steel girder bridge
overall length	121 m
Longest span	33.3 m
completion	1929
	location

47.57595 8.577898Coordinates: 47 ° 34 ′ 33 " N , 8 ° 34 ′ 40" E ; CH1903: 685 716 / 270,094

The Rüdlingen Rhine Bridge is a road bridge that spans the High Rhine between Rüdlingen and Flaach and the border between the cantons of Schaffhausen and Zurich .

history

A ferry connection near Rüdlingen probably already existed in 1417. To improve the road connections between Flaach and the Rafzerfeld , the cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen signed a contract for the construction of the Rhine bridge in 1870.

Bridge from 1870

The 121 meter long structure was erected in the years 1871–73. In addition to the abutments, three brick river piers 7 to 8 meters high, 1.5 to 1.9 meters thick and 4.5 meters wide were built as substructures. They were founded on the nearby rock. The superstructure of the girder bridge had four openings with spans of 27.2 meters for the end fields and 33.3 meters for the inner fields. It had a trough cross-section, which consisted of two iron lattice girders arranged laterally above the roadway, which were 2.4 meters high and were 4.4 meters apart. The roadway consisted of wooden planks 10 centimeters thick.

Main beam with walkway consoles

Three quarters of the construction costs amounting to CHF 126,000 . carried the canton of Zurich.

The superstructure was replaced in 1929. The lattice girders were replaced by two steel, riveted, 2.25 meter high solid wall girders , the clear spacing of which was increased to 5.6 meters and center distance to 6.0 meters. This made a 4.5 meter wide carriageway and an additional sidewalk possible. A continuous beam was used as the static system . The 20 centimeter thick deck was designed as a steel composite cross -section. The pillars and abutments were modified and reinforced accordingly. The construction costs amounted to 225,000 SFr. Traffic was handed over on January 10, 1930.

Twenty years later, a repair and the next widening of the bridge or the carriageway to 5.4 meters followed for 225,000 SFr. Consoles were mounted on the western main girder to support the sidewalk that was laid to the outside. In 1987/88, the deck slab from 1929 was replaced and the steel structure was renovated for CHF 1.348 million.

The bridge is designed for two lanes and a sidewalk.

New bridge

During a static check in spring 2015, engineers found that the structural safety of the structure was no longer guaranteed, especially when crossing heavy traffic. For safety reasons, the bridge has only been allowed to be used in one lane since then. A traffic light system regulates the traffic. The cantons of Zurich and Schaffhausen then started planning a new bridge.

In March 2019, the Zurich building department presented the result of the planning competition. The winning project was selected by a nine-member jury from a total of 18 submitted projects. The jury unanimously voted for the “Point de vue” project by Bänziger Partner AG from Zurich. It provides for a steel-concrete composite bridge over the existing pillars. The project is to be launched publicly by summer 2019. The commissioning of the new bridge cannot be expected until 2023 at the earliest.

literature

Hans Rudolf Stierli, Erwin Stucki, Paul Wüst: Before the construction of the N4: the Rhine crossings between Stein am Rhein and Eglisau . In: Rheinbrücke N4 , published by the National Road Office of the Canton of Schaffhausen, Meier Verlag Schaffhausen 1995, ISBN 3-85801-112-6