Birchenough Bridge

- 19.96214560416732.34375Koordinaten: 19 ° 57 ' 43.7 "S, 32 ° 20' 37.5 " E

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The Birchenough Bridge is a road bridge over the Sava River (pronounced Sa'wie ) in the same small town about 62 km from Chipinge in the south of the province of Manicaland in Zimbabwe. The at an altitude of 493 m above sea level. M. Located bridge connects the cities of Mutare and Masvingo.

Description

The two-lane bridge consists of a large steel truss arch, specifically from two arched trusses that are connected together and stiffened by diagonal cross members, of which the deck is suspended by steel cables. The arch has a span of 329 m ( 1080 ft), the bridge structure is 378 m long. The roadway was originally 7.2 m wide, but was widened in 1984 to 10 m. She has in the dry season, a clear height of 15.2 m above the river. She had the third longest span arch bridges all on its completion.

History

The bridge was one of four bridges of the late 1906 German -British- South African gold and diamond magnate Alfred Beit had been commissioned by the Beit Trust, to make roads in what was then Rhodesia and generally in southern Africa. The Beit Trust was led at that time by Sir John Henry Birchenough (1853-1937), after which it was named.

The planning of the bridge and the corresponding road connecting the consulting engineers Sir Douglas & Francis Fox, London, were commissioned, who worked as looking ahead and providing bauleitende engineers on almost all railways in Southern Africa at this time. In the engineering firm Ralph Freeman was responsible for the bridge, which had already been involved in the planning of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The Birchenough Bridge was probably the first bridge of the models have been tested in the wind tunnel before. It was built by Dorman Long cantilevering from the banks. Here, the projecting parts of sheet ropes were used for bracing, which had already been used in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. After the completion of the sheet, these cables have been used as for the trailer deck. The bridge was completed in 1935.

In 1984 she was widened and strengthened in a project of the World Bank on ten meters. The bridge is known worldwide as an example of outstanding architecture.

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