Wettstein Bridge
| Wettstein Bridge | ||
|---|---|---|
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| use | Road bridge | |
| Crossing of | Rhine | |
| place | Basel | |
| construction | three-arched iron bridge | |
| overall length | 371 meters | |
| width | 24.20 m | |
| Clear height | 14.30 m | |
| vehicles per day | Road traffic | |
| start of building | 1991 | |
| completion | 1995 | |
| planner | Total renovation by Bischoff and Rüegg | |
| location | ||
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The Wettstein Bridge is the second oldest Rhine bridge in the Swiss city of Basel .
prehistory
For around six and a half centuries, the Mittlere Brücke was the only bridge that was able to handle traffic between Grossbasel and Kleinbasel . However, from 1800 onwards, due to the steady growth of the population and the increasing importance of industry, their capacity proved to be far too low. The Basel city fathers thought about a second Rhine crossing.
In 1843, engineer Joseph Chaley , the builder of the Freiburg suspension bridge , presented the authorities with a design for a 6.6 meter wide chain bridge between Harzgraben and Baarmatte, and at the same time a project by the Strasbourg engineer Lecrom was submitted. The expert Guillaume Henri Dufour from Geneva, the future general, merged the two studies into one proposal. But it was not realized. In 1854 the Harzgraben ferry was first set up with the same route .
In 1864 a study proposed a two-story road and rail bridge. However, due to the estimated high costs, it was decided in 1873 to separate the route and build the connecting railway bridge further upstream .
It was not until February 1876 that the Basel building department presented the feasible project of an inclined Harzgraben bridge . The biggest challenge for the bridge construction at this point was the difference in height between the Greater Basel and the Kleinbasel side of the Rhine, which was solved with a gradient of the bridge of 2.67%. This was hotly debated in the newspapers at the time and prompted the contemporary art historian Jacob Burckhardt to criticize the aesthetics of the building. This is why the bridge was given the nickname “Leaning Bridge at Basel”.
First bridge
In 1877 construction work began on the Harzgraben Bridge. The bridge was built by the companies Philipp Holzmann from Frankfurt am Main and the Benckiser brothers from Pforzheim . The model of the bridge was awarded the golden diploma on the occasion of the Paris World Exhibition in 1878 . An imposing structure was built within two years and three workers lost their lives during the construction. The construction was supported by two river pillars, had a maximum span of 69 meters, a total length of 357.56 meters and was 12.6 meters wide.
The two river pillars were built with foundations made of iron caissons and concrete, on which the pillars were built with Laufen limestone blocks. The three openings were spanned with a half-timbered construction made of iron girder elements , which were manufactured in Ludwigshafen, and covered with cast iron grids on the sides . These came from Benckiser from Pforzheim , together with the other cast iron parts required for the construction, such as candelabra, railings and figural decorations .
On Saturday, June 7th, 1879, the bridge was ceremoniously opened to traffic and in autumn 1880 was crowned with four monumental basilisks , each three meters high and weighing more than five tons, on the abutment piers . These were designed by the Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth . The molds came from the Constance sculptor Hans Baur .
The Harzgrabenbrücke was not officially named Wettsteinbrücke until 1881 , in memory of the mayor Johann Rudolf Wettstein (1594–1666).
Broadening
As early as 1896, the rapid increase in road traffic made it appear urgent to widen the carriageway. In 1897 the Basler Strassen-Bahnen (BStB) created a direct tram connection between the Badischer Bahnhof and the Centralbahnhof . The route could only be laid over the Wettstein Bridge as a single track. This made the traffic situation even worse. For safety reasons, the maximum speed for automobiles and wagons had to be limited to 10 km / h in 1919. From 1935 the bridge was therefore widened from 12.6 to 21.5 meters. The Basler Strassen-Bahnen was also able to lay a second track. The new, widened Wettstein Bridge was inaugurated on June 4, 1939 with a large folk festival.
Due to the bridge renovation, the four massive basilisks had to be removed in 1936. Unfortunately, there was no further use for the proud birds at that time. So buyers were sought. As a result, one person found a new stand in the courtyard of the Schützenmattstrasse 35 property in Basel, one on the Rippertschwand in Meggen on Lake Lucerne, and one first in Engelberg, then on Lake Geneva in Nyon . The fourth was donated by the city of long alders in Basel.
Second bridge
Over time, the heavily used inner-city connection became dilapidated and the bridge had to be replaced or renewed.
In May 1990, the citizens of Basel approved the bridge rehabilitation project by Bischoff and Rüegg in a referendum. The vote was preceded by a controversy over a project launched by a private committee by the Spanish engineer and architect Santiago Calatrava . Finally, the Grand Council (cantonal parliament) decided in favor of the renovation project. Using the two river piers, a new Wettstein Bridge was built from 1991.
The Odyssey of the Basilisks
The basilisk that emigrated to Lake Lucerne is still there today. The one in the courtyard of the Schützenmattstrasse 35 property in Basel almost flew back to the city of Basel. Migros Claraplatz wanted to have the heavily rusted bird restored on the occasion of one of its anniversaries and give it to the city. However, this refused. So he's still rusting in the same courtyard. The basilisk from the long alders found its way back to the Wettstein Bridge in 1995 and stands at the bridgehead on the Grossbasler side, facing away from the bridge. The basilisk from Nyon moved in 1981 to the park of the holiday home of Peter Koechlin, son of the former owner, in Rickenbach-Altenschwand in the Black Forest. Peter Koechlin wanted to make the basilisk accessible to the public again. However, the city of Basel refused his proposed gift. Then he tried to give the "bird" to the zoological garden in Basel . However, he also refused the impressive gift. Reason: A mythological mythical creature does not fit in the zoo. In 2008, the Alder Association received this sculpture as a gift and the Long Alder came back to “their” basilisk.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Othmar Birkner, Hanspeter Rebsamen: Basel . In: Society for Swiss Art History (Ed.): INSA 1850-1920, Volume 2 . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-280-01716-5 , p. 228.
- ^ Roger Jean Rebmann: www.altbasel.ch, questions about old Basel, as of December 26, 2007
- ↑ Othmar Birkner, Hanspeter Rebsamen: Basel . In: Society for Swiss Art History (Ed.): INSA 1850-1920, Volume 2 . Orell Füssli, Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-280-01716-5 , p. 228.
- ↑ altbasel.ch: Basilisks on the Wettstein Bridge , accessed on February 3, 2010
- ↑ Badischer Bahnhof-Wettsteinbrücke (1897)
- ↑ A colossal basilisk in the Spalen district ( Memento of the original from November 20, 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.
- ↑ Santiago Calatrava: Wettsteinbrücke (draft) ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2010 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.
- ↑ altbasel.ch: 1984/1990 - Voting on the new Wettstein Bridge ( memento of October 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Odyssey of a Basilisk
- ↑ A mythical animal is moving
- ↑ Stefan Hess : Between Winckelmann and Winkelried. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891), Berlin 2010, p. 218.
literature
- Alfred Mutz About the becoming of the Wettstein Bridge basilisk. In: Basler Stadtbuch 1981 , pp. 179–182.
- From the old to the new Wettstein Bridge. In: Basler Stadtbuch 1995 , pp. 102-104.
Web links
Rhine bridges: Holzapfelweg at the Birsfelden power plant | Railway bridge | Black Forest Bridge | Wettstein Bridge | Middle bridge | Johanniterbrücke | Dreirosenbrücke
City bridges: Birskopfstegbrücke | Birsig Viaduct | Dorenbach Viaduct | Heuwaage Viaduct | Peter Merian Bridge
Former bridges: Dufour Bridge | St. Alban Bridge
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The next bridge up the river: Black Forest Bridge |
Bridges over the Rhine |
The next bridge downstream: Middle Bridge |