Unique Magdeburg Water Bridge

Sometimes it seems that nothing new can be invented in bridge building. Everything has already been created. But it turns out, not all. There is a miraculous bridge on which not buses and trains ride, but dry-cargo ships and barges sail. Fiction, embodied in reality, the aqueduct of our time - the Magdeburg Water Bridge. There is no analogue of this structure in Europe.

The idea of ​​creating this construction, which surprised the world, arose in the minds of the Germans back in 1877. The point was that they wanted to connect the Mitteland and Elba-Havel canals by building the Magdeburg Water Bridge. Design began 42 years later. And after 21 years, the construction of the bridge began. But the two wars, then the division of Germany into East and West, the years of the Cold War “froze” the construction for many years. And only when Germany reunited, the country's government decided to resume the construction of a strategically important facility. In 1997, the process moved forward. Six years passed, and the largest canal bridge over the Elbe River, combining the former Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, was built. In October 2003, the Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany was put into operation, it began to take the first barges. The state spent more than 500 million euros on the construction of the facility. The width of the built-in waterbed is 34 meters, and the depth of the channel is more than 4 meters.

The appearance of this bridge played a huge role in the inland navigation of Germany. The movement of bulk carriers was simplified, they no longer had to cross the Elbe. The Magdeburg Water Bridge connected the port of Berlin with industrial facilities and harbors on the Rhine. Indeed, before the construction of the bridge, the canals were on both sides of the Elbe and, most importantly, above its course. To go from one channel to another, I had to loop 12 kilometers and spend a lot of time waiting for the elevator to descend into the river and rise to another channel. Also, large expenses of money were incurred for transshipment of barges due to the low water level in the river.

The Magdeburg Water Bridge, 918 meters long, solved these problems. Its segment, which "hangs" on stilts above the river, is 228 meters. Above the land passes a large part (690 meters) of this fantastic navigable aqueduct of our time. Guests of Magdeburg and locals move along the pedestrian and bicycle paths that the bridge is equipped with. Here you can park cars and visit the museum, where it will be interesting to get acquainted with the history of the bridge. Anyone who wishes can take a walk on the world's only ship-lift, aboard a pleasure boat. Looking at the bridge, one cannot say that it is beautiful. He is short and stocky, like a hero. What attracts the attention of tourists? For those who value engineering projects, the bridge is a real puzzle brought to life. How competent the calculations of engineers and physicists must be in order to design such a unique bridge that can withstand the additional weight of loaded vessels and barges 85 meters long and up to 2 meters draft and having water in the canal!