Europabrücke

47.20222222222211.401944444444Koordinaten: 47 ° 12 ' 8 " N, 11 ° 24' 7" E

F1

Wipptal

The Europe Bridge at Innsbruck, the core of the Austrian Brenner motorway A 13, with a height of 190 m above ground, the highest beam bridge in Europe. At the time of its completion, it was the highest bridge in Europe.

Location

The bridge spans the Wipptal between Patsch and Schoenberg. East of the bridge is the junction Patsch-Igls Brenner motorway at Patsch, west of the Europa Bridge car park ( municipality Schönberg) with the 46741! Listed Europe 's Chapel.

History

The route over the Brenner is one of the most important Old Quarters Central Europe. The route of the Via Raetia the Roman period selected for the first stage of the steep ascent over Unterberg ( Stephan Bridge ) to Schoenberg on the left, easily accessible along the lower reaches valley. This was followed by all other ways, to the Brenner highway B 182

Planning

1957, the first time it was considered the construction of a highway across the Alps. Between Innsbruck and the Brenner had to be handled over the distance of 34.5 km, a height difference of 772 m, but the maximum slope of the line should not exceed 6%. Therefore, an earlier rise along the Sill was necessary, the only right of the Sill seemed as much sense as the Brenner railway.

During the 1960s, this project has been the construction of mountain highway through the burner. Originally, the bridge structure Europa Bridge was not foreseen in the planning of the Brenner motorway. Because of the interventions Schönberger citizens who hoped for a revival of tourism in the Stubai from the highway, the road was changed to a Talseitenwechsel what had to build the Europe bridge the consequence.

Construction

On April 25, 1959, the construction of the bridge was the ground-breaking ceremony by the Minister for Trade and Reconstruction, Fritz Bock, and the Governor of Tyrol, Hans Tschiggfrey started. On November 17, 1963, the bridge of Chancellor Alfons Gorbach as saying was " [ ... ] associate in peace and freedom, the peoples of Europe [ ... ] " opened to traffic.

The height of the Europe bridge provided the engineering art in the 1960s with major challenges. The bridge rests on five reinforced concrete pillars, the central pillar of 146.5 m is the highest. The main bridge is a steel structure with a length of 657 m, a depth of the hollow box of 7.7 m and 10.0 m wide. The spans between the piers be 81 108 198 ( main span ) 108 81 81 m. The length of the approach bridge ( prestressed concrete ) is 120 m, the separation of the pillar structure 3.0 m. The total length of the bridge is 820 m. For the construction of the Europe bridge was of earth and rock excavation of 55,000 m3, 70,000 m3 of concrete were built, 1,400 tons of reinforcing steel, 60 tonnes of prestressing steel, the steel structure is given as 6,000 tons, the roadbed with 3,150 tons.

Traffic

Innsbruck has the road a slope of 4.05 %. The width of 22.2 m originally with five lanes in 1984 increased by 1.2 m on each side to a total of 24.6 m. Since then, the bridge has a sidewalk in each direction and three lanes, of which the right in each case serves as a slow lane for the dense heavy traffic.

The Brenner motorway is one of the major north-south thoroughfares in Europe, is a correspondingly high volume of traffic: for the year 2001, an average daily traffic (ADT ) of approximately 40,000 and a peak load of about 70,000 vehicles per day specified for a portion of the heavy traffic of 15, 9%.

Find out more

The construction of the bridge called for 22 human lives. A persistent urban legend that it had not been possible when pulling up the pillar to recover crashed workers, otherwise the static would have been affected. Accordingly, the legend is true that some construction workers had been concreted in the piers of the bridge.

The Europe Bridge is the subject of numerous artistic representations and a popular photo ( the most convenient location is in the chapel at the upper parking lot ). She is also the subject of some stamps. Their construction, including the construction of the standards is from the " old Brenner road " to see the high winds in many serpentines at the feet of the bridge piers.

In the space defense plan of the Cold War played the bridge, just as the entire A 13, an important tactical role, it is therefore still equipped with several closed military facilities and blasting shafts.

Gallery

Europe bridge

Europe bridge

On the Europe Bridge west view

View from the Brenner highway to the Europe Bridge

Look at the Europe Bridge (south)

Look at the Europe Bridge