Also a Mystery Bridge Article Nr. 179
This Pic of the Week takes us to the topic about the Basket-Handle Tied Arch Bridge. The first known bridge that was constructed using this design was the Fehmarn Bridge in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the two arches meet in the middle above the roadway. The bridge was built in 1963 and is still serving traffic to this day and will continue to do so in the future despite having a freeway and railway tunnel be built alongside the structure.
But you are probably wondering why I mention this when my pic of the week has to do with another bridge. This pic takes us back to the city of Preetz. We had already found a replica of a historic bowstring arch bridge that was dedicated to the late Hans Umlauff a pair of articles back. But the town of 20,000 has another diamond in the rough that spans a railroad line connecting Kiel with Lübeck via the Lakes Region in Plön.
The Walter-Ewoldt-Brücke is located on the south end of town at Zappenweg, near the Europa Union Kreisverband Organization. The bridge was built in 1958 and provides pedestrians and cyclists with easy access over the railroad and onto the bike trail, with access to the beach along Lanzer See (Lake Lanz). When looking at it from a side view, the first assumption would be that the bridge presents a unique arch. Yet if you are a bridge engineer or a bridge enthusiast like yours truly, you would also look at the bridge’s underside to see how the decking is supported. And sure enough…..
….. it features the basket-handle arch design similar to the Fehmarn Bridge. Even when looking at the vintage postcards of the structure that just opened after its construction, even by the oblique view, one will see the obvious.
The conclusion here, the first basket-handle arch bridge was not built in 1963 at Fehmarn but here, in Preetz in 1958. Yet one should be specific for the Ewoldt Bridge has a deck arch design using the basket-handle design, whereas the Fehmarn Bridge is still the first one that features a through arch design, similar to the spans that exist to this day, including the newly-built I-74 Bridge in the Quad Cities:
Nevertheless, who was behind the construction of th unusual bridge in Preetz and was this person the same one who built the bridge at Fehmarn? If not, who was behind the invention of the basket-handle arch bridge. If you have any information that will be useful to solve one of the two or both cases, use the contact info provided here. A project to create a book on Schleswig-Holstein’s bridges is ongoing and if you have any information that is useful for the book, use the contact details for that. Details on the bridge book project can be found here.
Happy Bridghunting folks, and stay safe out there. ❤
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