Müngsten Bridge

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The Müngsten Bridge is the highest railway bridge in Germany.[1] The bridge is Script error: No such module "convert". high and spans the valley of the river Wupper, carrying the Wuppertal-Oberbarmen–Solingen railway between the cities of Remscheid and Solingen.[1] It is used by line S7 of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn[2] and the RE47 Regional-Express service, although the RE47 service is being operated by a replacement bus service until 2026.[3]

Originally the bridge was named the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke (Emperor Wilhelm Bridge) to honour Emperor Wilhelm I.[4] After the end of the monarchy the bridge was renamed after the nearby settlement of Müngsten, which is close to the city limits of Solingen, Remscheid and Wuppertal. Today, the settlement no longer exists, so Müngsten is simply a landmark.

History

Black and white view of steel arch bridge crossing a forested valley. A steam train is crossing the bridge
Postcard showing the bridge in 1912

The first plans for a bridge connecting the cities of Remscheid and Solingen go back as far as 1889. The Prussian Parliament approved the 5 million Marks required to build the bridge in 1890. Preparatory work began in 1893, first breaking of the earth was on 26 February 1894, and the bridge was finished in 1897. Anton von Rieppel (1852 – 1926), an architect and engineer, was in charge of the project.[4] A memorial plaque at the foot of the bridge reminds one of his efforts. The opening of the bridge shrank the distance by rail between the cities of Remscheid and Solingen from Script error: No such module "convert". to Script error: No such module "convert"..[5]

The bridge's official inauguration celebration took place on 15 July 1897.[5] Emperor Wilhelm II did not attend the ceremony in person. Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia attended the festivities instead.[4] Emperor Wilhelm II visited the bridge two years later, on 12 August 1899.

Design

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A total of Script error: No such module "convert". of dynamite and Script error: No such module "convert". of black powder were needed during construction of the foundations, and around of Script error: No such module "convert". of iron and steel were used in the bridge's construction, with 950,000 rivets holding the structure together.[6]

Originally, the bridge was planned to be single-track. However, high future traffic growth projections led to the redesign as a dual-track bridge.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

See also

References

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External links

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