The second Strelasund Crossing - a modern Cable-Stayed Bridge in close vicinity to the World Cultural Heritage of Straslund, Germany

After opening in the autumn of 2007, the 2830 m long Strelasund Link will provide an efficient connection between the island of Rügen, the city of Stralsund situated on the shore of the Baltic Sea and the "Ostseeautobahn" A20 and avoid traffic further jams along the 70 year old "Rügendamm", Fig. 1. The Link crosses the eastern part of Stralsund, the Ziegelgraben, the island of Dänholm and the Strelasund and consists of six individual bridges, – beam slab girder from prestressed concrete (BW1.1), steel composite bridge (BW 1.2), a cable-stayed bridge (BW2) and 3 box girder bridges from prestressed concrete (BW3, 4, 5), Fig. 2. The cable-stayed bridge crosses the Ziegelgraben with a minimum height of 42 m and a span of 198 m. Its aerodynamically shaped bridge deck is supported by 32 cables from a 128 m high, double leg steel tower. The design of the bridge was dominated by the aim to develop a harmony between the ancient part of Stralsund, a World Cultural Heritage site, and this modern structure. By a close cooperation between the owner, the design engineer and the architect an harmonic design of the entire crossing has been achieved – despite the different structural systems – which will not endanger Stralsund's status as a World Cultural Heritage site. The bridge incorporates a number of innovations and first applications in Germany like the stay cables from parallel strands, self-compacting concrete, wind-shielding walls and high containment guardrails.