Refurbishment of Iron Suspension Bridge in Ozimek: General Design

One of the oldest existing iron chain suspension bridge in Europe is located in Ozimek Poland over Ma a Panew River. In spite of the modest span of about 30 meters, the bridge - built in 1827 - is of great value, both for history and industrial archaeology because of its historical and structural uniqueness. In recent decades this closed for public structure was in very poor condition, but starting from the beginning of 2008, bridge has changed the owner, who took a decision on its restoration. The main assumed target was to change bridge function to become useful for pedestrians only, but also to show magnificence of its original architecture. Design works were conducted with respect mainly urgent maintenance, durability, safety and material investigations. In addition, computer technology was applied to fully access the structural design. This involved creating a numerical model of the bridge to calculate its load bearing capacity. Modern engineering skills were used to overcome the technical challenges in conserving this bridge and retaining as much of the original fabric as possible. This paper focuses on initial design stage of subject bridge restoration. Some preservation works on sub- and superstructure had to be carried out to make pedestrian traffic more comfortable and to avoid the collapse of the bridge. Such structural elements, as timber deck and iron towers for instance were initially thoroughly examined, but especially the ironwork, indicated as seriously defective.