Maurzyce Bridge

52.139519.870667Koordinaten: 52 ° 8 ' 22.2 "N, 19 ° 52' 14.4 " E

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Słudwia (river)

The Maurzyce Bridge over the River Słudwia, a tributary of the Bzury, in Central Poland is the first welded road bridge in whole world. It was completed in 1927 shortly after the first welded railway bridge. The bridge is located near the village Maurzyce at Łowicz in the region of Łódź.

History

Construction

Was constructed the bridge in 1927 by Stefan Bryła, a welding pioneer in construction. Bryła, professor at the National Polytechnic University of Lviv, carried out extensive theoretical studies on the use of welded steel by in the building and looked at various aspects of the acetylene welding and cutting, and arc welding. The mid- 1920s decided Bryła to construct a welded bridge. He took an older, riveted bridge as a model, which he. Together with Wenczesław Poniż redesigned so that the new design method could be used The cross members and some chord members were designed this new. The draft 1927 was completed, that is earlier than that of a similar but shorter, welded railway bridge of Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, but whose construction went ahead faster and was opened earlier and therefore as the first welded bridge in the world applies.

The then-new technology of arc welding allowed a total weight of 56 t in contrast to a conventional riveted truss bridge with 70 t. Apart from the method of construction it was an ordinary truss bridge with two longitudinal girders of straight lower and approximately parabolic, polygonal top main beams. In addition to the two lanes, there were two sidewalks for pedestrians.

Construction

The modules were in the factory " K. Rudzki i S- ka " prefabricated in Mińsk Mazowiecki and then welded together on site in place. The bridge was completed in December 1928 and opened to traffic in August 1929. Although the welding was more expensive than the more time-consuming rivets that time, the total construction costs were reduced because 17% less steel was used and the construction period was shorter.

It was considered risky to build a bridge in this way. Therefore Konstanty Rudzki was chosen as the general contractor and steel fabricator. His company, based in Warsaw and a large factory in Mińsk Mazowiecki was one of the most experienced companies in the bridge at the time. The company was founded in 1853 was the transition from the 19th to the 20th century the only company in Russia that could build bridges difficult to be constructed in remote regions. Konstanty Rudzki and his colleagues then built almost 20 % of all in Russia to build bridges.

Later history

The construction of this bridge was then, revolutionary ' and the starting point for a new era of bridge building. The method of construction was described in European and American engineering publications. Engineers from around the world visited the bridge in large numbers. One consequence of this was that the first country in the world Poland aufstellte rules for the construction of welded bridges.

Until the late 1970s the Bridge of the National Highway 92 and the road number 8 was used. When it was too narrow for the volume of traffic, it was in 1977 moved about 20 meters to the north and closed to traffic. In their place, a replacement bridge was built.

In 1968, the bridge through the monument documentation center, the predecessor organization of the Polish National Institute of Cultural Heritage, included in the list worth protecting cultural heritage of Poland. She has been recognized as a historical monument of international significance and later declared a " immovable historic monument".

2009, the bridge was rebuilt. The steel structure was for 800,000 zł freed from rust and painted silver. The road surface was replaced by a granite pavement. 2011 was previously unveiled a commemorative plaque to Professor Bryła.