Köhlbrand Bridge

53.5216666666679.9383333333333Koordinaten: 53 ° 31 ' 18 "N, 9 ° 56' 18" O

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Köhlbrand

The Köhlbrandbrücke since September 23, 1974 connects the harbor area on the Hamburg Elbe island of William Castle with the Federal Highway 7 (junction 30 Waltershof ). The bridge spans the 325 -meter-wide, here Köhlbrand said arm of the Southern Elbe, the two kilometers downriver reunites with the Norderelbe.

Construction

The bridge section is a total of 3618 m long and after the high street Elbmarsch the second longest road bridge in Germany. The structure consists of the eastern ramp bridge, the current bridge and the western ramp bridge. The eastern ramp bridge is 2050 m long reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete construction, the 520 m long power bridge is designed as a cable-stayed bridge in steel and the 1048 m long western ramp bridge made ​​of prestressed concrete.

The current bridge has three openings with 97.5 m, 325 m and 97.5 m span. The cable-stayed bridge construction has fan-shaped bracing with 88 steel cables (up to 10 cm thick) attached to one side on the bridge box at the outside consoles and the other hand to the steel pylons. The superstructure ( bridge support ) consists of a single cell, 3.52 m high steel box girder with a 17.2 meter wide carriageway. The pylons are 37 meters high reinforced concrete pillars and reach a height of 135 m above mean high tide level. The clear height of the main opening is 53 m above the mean high tide, so the building is currently (as of 2010 ) for seagoing vessels is not an obstacle even at high water. 1998, however, the bridge box was rammed by the boom of a floating crane (see press releases).

The eastern ramp bridge in Neuhof consists of three sections. The first section in the branching portion of the road consists of a 153.5 m long reinforced concrete slab. This is followed by a comma- expansion joints, curved in plan, 12 - span prestressed concrete bridge with spans of 3 × 35 m - 36.5 m - 2 × 36 m - 36.4 m - 29.5 m - 30 m - 25.6 m - 26.5 m - at 30 m. The bridge cross section consists of two girders at 2.0 m height and design is seamlessly connected to the siebfeldrigen bridge the exit Breslauer Straße. In the further course, there is the main eastern ramp of a two-cell, three-stage hollow box section with a standard construction height of 3.0 m and a deck slab width of 17.6 m. This part has 30 fields, two continuous beams as a building system in the longitudinal direction and spans of 35 m - 27 × 50 m - 55 m - 60 m. The maximum gradient is 4%.

The western ramp bridge in Waltershof is curved in plan S-shape with radii up to 175 m and has 19 fields. The spans of the bridge beams are 8 × 70 m - 60 m - 2 x 50 m - 7 × 42 m - 34 m. The cross section of prestressed concrete bridge is a single-cell box with inclined webs and 3.55 m depth of system.

For construction of the bridge 81,000 cubic meters of concrete and 12,700 tons of steel were used. The construction took four years, the cost amounted to 160 million DM

The inauguration took place on 20 September in 1974 by the then Federal President Walter Scheel. Subsequently, the population had three days, the opportunity to commit the bridge. Over 600,000 hamburgers this way perceived. For this event, the city coined 100,000 commemorative medals, which were sold out very quickly.

Due to their height, the Köhlbrandbrücke is widely visible and a landmark of the city of Hamburg. In 1975, the conductive for the steel construction of the cable-stayed bridge construction engineer Paul responsible Boué the European Steel Design Award ( EKS | CECM | ECCS ) counter in Torremolinos ( Spain), the architectural consulting services provided Egon Jux. The prestressed concrete bridges were planned and executed under the direction of civil engineer Hans Wittfoht as the leader of a community.

At the beginning of large oscillations of the suspension ropes were occasionally observed at the bridge. This rain-wind -induced vibrations were eliminated by the subsequent installation of vibration dampers. Due to corrosion and wire breaks all the ropes were replaced from 1978 to 1979. In March 2014 began a comprehensive basic repair of the bridge, which is to be completed in 2016.

Traffic

The bridge has four lanes and is used daily by about 30,000 vehicles. Mainly goods are transported, which are shipped in the container terminals in the harbor area (including the Container Terminal Werder and Automobilverladeanlagen at the Rethe ).

For pedestrians, cyclists and mopeds, the bridge is closed. Pedestrians could use the bridge since its construction only twice: for the opening and 25th birthday (1999). Since 2011, the participants of the October 3, annual Köhlbrandbrückenlaufs can enjoy the view of the harbor and the city. Cyclists can happen to the car -free day each year as a participant of the Hamburg Vattenfall cyclassics race or as part of the bicycle demonstration. Since a few years the Köhlbrandbrücke is locked during the New Year's Eve fireworks for public transport.

The Köhlbrandbrücke serves mainly the port traffic between Federal Highway 1 and A 7, which result in extension of the Elbe bridges or through the Elbe to the south. For this reason you will find nowhere Köhlbrandbrücke signposted throughout Hamburg. Who wants to travel on the A 7 exits via exit Waltershof or travels conversely from Hamburg Centrum in the free port and continue in the direction A 7/Flensburg or taking a bus route 151 between William Castle and Finkenwerder.

Demolition

On 12 January 2007, reported by the newspaper Bild that Köhlbrandbrücke should be demolished in the near future, because it was too low for container ships of the latest design. This was denied by the Hamburg Port Authority. However, the redevelopment of a Köhlbrand - crossing is in the planning.

Due to the high cost of becoming necessary renewal of the reinforced concrete piers must be later than the Köhlbrandbrücke demolished in 2028. This said Hamburg's Senator for Urban Development Axel Gedaschko in January 2008 compared to the "world". He relied in this connection on the prognosis of an opinion of the TU Harburg and is of the opinion " that would no longer be profitable, especially since future ship sizes of new bridges expect a greater headroom ". On June 12, 2012 confirmed Mayor Olaf Scholz, that should be " soon the planning and financing of the new building replacement " bumped.

Press Releases

• On 20 February 1998, the Köhlbrandbrücke was damaged by the Dutch floating crane "Rotterdam". The boom of the crane rammed the steel box girder of the bridge. The damage, especially two square meters large holes in the carrier were repaired during a multi-week full closure of the bridge. Cause of the accident was a misjudgment of the boom height by the crew of the floating crane.