Verbreiterung und Tragwerkserneuerung bei der Aitertalbrücke

The Aitertal bridge, one of the oldest major bridges of the Austrian Western Motorway A1 in Upper Austria, had to be widened and improved in the course of the general refurbishments. It was not possible to upgrade the 45 year old prestressed-concrete bridge at reasonable costs, a replacement of the superstructure was necessary.

The substructures were built in the years 1939 – 1945, in the beginning of motorway building in Austria. These more than 50 year old structures, evidences of a past time, are under protection of monuments and had to be integrated for further use in the new design of the bridge.

During the whole period of refurbishment a total of 4 lanes had to be provided for traffic, with the problem, that only 3 lanes could be established on the old bridge deck structures of one direction. To guarantee the controlled demolition of the old prestressed superstructures, an innovative concept had to be developed. The old bridge superstructures were replaced by a composite deck, whose steel girders were launched from one abutment, without any scaffolding.