Crown Prince Bridge
Crown Prince Bridge | |
|---|---|
Mitte | |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | continuous steel beams |
| Total length | 75.22 m (246.8 ft) |
| Width | 22.62 m (74.2 ft) |
| Longest span | 44 m (144 ft) |
| Clearance below | 4.5 m (15 ft) |
| History | |
| Contracted lead designer | Santiago Calatrava, PSP Engineering Office |
| Construction start | 1992 |
| Construction end | 1996 |
| Construction cost | 34 M DM |
| Location | |
 | |
The Crown Prince Bridge (
German Bundestag and the Spreebogenpark
.
History
Its predecessor was a wooden
Frederick William. The structure was a cast iron, timber framed, arch bridge with three arches and a width of 22 metres. The centre arch had an opening of 18.68 metres wide, the two outer arches were each 15.48 metres wide. The piers and abutments were made of clinker bricks, clad with granite in places, the foundations were of concrete
.
At the end of the
River Spree
was a sector boundary here. In 1972, it was torn down by East German officials to avoid refugees travelling from East Germany to the West. The piers and abutments were left in place.
Present bridge
More than 20 years later, the bridge was rebuilt as a symbol of peace and the reunification of Germany. [1]
Its design was based on a submission by the winner of a contest, and then was developed into a full project. Its main engineer, Gerhard Sedlacek, is the designer of the revolutionary support system holding it up on either side of the river (the elbows are visible nearest to the water). This was necessary to avoid having piers which would have hampered navigation.
References
- ^ "Kronprinzen Bridge / Berlin (Overview) – Santiago Calatrava – Architects & Engineers". www.calatrava.com. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crown Prince Bridge.