The unique Magdeburg water bridge
Sometimes it seems that nothing new can be inventedin bridge construction. Everything is already created. But it turns out, not all. There is a miracle bridge along which buses and trains do not travel, and steamers-dry cargo ships and barges float. Fantasy, realized in reality, the aqueduct of modern times - Magdeburg water bridge. There is no analogue of this structure in Europe.
The idea of creating this, which surprised the world, structuresemerged in the heads of the Germans in the distant 1877. The idea was that they wanted to connect the Mitteland and Elbe-Havel channels by constructing the Magdeburg water bridge. The design began after 42 years. And in 21 years the construction of the bridge was started. But two wars, then the division of Germany into the East and West, the years of the "cold war" "froze" the construction for many years. And only when Germany was reunited, the government decided to resume the construction of a strategically important facility. In 1997, the process moved from a dead center. Six years passed, and the largest bridge channel across the Elbe River, which united the former FRG and the GDR, was built. In October 2003, the Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany was put into operation, he began to take the first barges. For the construction of the facility the state spent more than 500 million euros. The width of the built-in waterway is 34 meters, and the depth of the channel is more than 4 meters.
The appearance of this bridge played a huge role in theinland navigation of Germany. The movement of dry-cargo ships was simplified, they no longer had to cross the Elbe. The Magdeburg water bridge connected the port of Berlin and industrial facilities and harbors on the Rhine. After all, before the construction of the bridge channels were on both sides of the Elbe and, above all, above its current. For the transition from one channel to another, it was necessary to make a loop of 12 kilometers and spend a lot of time waiting for the descent of the elevator to the river and going up to another channel. Also, large expenditures of money were made for reloading barges due to the low water level in the river.
The Magdeburg water bridge is 918 meters longsolved these problems. Its segment, which "hangs" on piles above the river - 228 meters. Above the land is a large part (690 meters) of this fantastic navigable aqueduct of our time. The guests of Magdeburg and the locals move around the pedestrian and bicycle paths with which the bridge is provided. Here you can park cars and visit the museum, where it will be interesting to get acquainted with the history of the bridge. Those who wish can take a walk on the world's only ship's elevator, while aboard a pleasure boat. When you look at the bridge, you can not say that it is beautiful. He is short and stocky, like a bogatyr. What is it that attracts the attention of tourists? For those who appreciate engineering projects, the bridge is a real puzzle, embodied in life. How competent the calculations of engineers and physicists should be to design such a unique bridge capable of withstanding the additional weight of loaded ships and barges 85 meters long and draft up to 2 meters and having water in the canal!
