Neubau der Rethebrücke, Hamburg

The new Rethebridge, Hamburg, Germany.

With the erecting of the Rethebridge, which has a span of 104.2 m, the port of Hamburg gets one of Europe's largest road bridges and Europe's largest railway bridge with two movable spans (bascule bridge). The superstructure is divided in two parts, one for railway and one for road traffic, thus allowing an economic construction for the different loads. The size of the movable spans results in huge piers (21.7 m deep in ground) standing in Elbe's tidal area needing special anchorage measurements.
The bridge's structure is composed of four truss girders, every bridge side, tapering to the middle of the bridge. At closed position, a special finger construction in the middle of the bridge allows the transfer of positive moments without any mechanical locking system.