Die Instandsetzung der Old White Nile Bridge in Khartoum/Sudan

Rehabilitation of old steel bridges over the Nile in Khartoum/Sudan.

The Old White Nile Bridge and the Old Blue Nile Bridge were the first bridges ever to cross the Nile at Khartoum - Capital of the Sudan. They were build In 1928 and 1908 by the British Company Dorman Long Ltd. and till today service the traffic in Khartoum in their since then unchanged form. They represent as such a functional technical monument and an attest of the unusual engineering achievement, which was realised under the most extreme climatic and technological conditions.
The following report is about the rehabilitation of the Old White Nile Bridge, which was carried out from 2004 till 2007. The Schüßler-Plan Ingenieurgesellschaft was contracted by the Bridge Department of the State of Khartoum with several analysis related with the rehabilitation concept. The report starts with an historic review of the bridge and continuous with the decision weather it is statically necessary to exchange the nearly 80 year old bearings that are strongly hindered in their function, or weather they could be left unchanged. For the Blue Nile Bridge also, a complete rehabilitation is planned in the near future. Since the two bridge structures are comparable, the knowledge collected at the Old White Nile Bridge could be of great advantage for the Blue Nile rehabilitation.