Rehabilitation of the Emmerich Rhine bridge reaches milestone
With the completion of the corrosion protection work on the pylons and suspension cables and the replacement of all 200 suspension cables, an important milestone has been reached in the rehabilitation of the Emmerich Rhine Bridge. The replacement of the suspension cables became necessary because incipient corrosion on the fully locked cables was detected in the course of the regular structural inspection. The work on the suspension cables and pylons at a height of up to 80 m above the Rhine necessitated extensive scaffolding. Due to the low concentration of bridges on the Lower Rhine, all work was carried out while traffic on the overpassed B220 was still moving. In addition to the construction site logistics, the stability and traffic safety of the construction conditions posed major challenges in the planning.
With the renewal of the structure's waterproofing, road surfaces and structural equipment as well as the installation of local reinforcements, further construction work is scheduled in the near future to make the structure fit for the future.
The Emmerich Rhine Bridge, opened in 1965, is an earth-anchored suspension bridge with a total length of 800 m. In the main span, the Rhine is spanned without supports over a length of 500 m, making the structure the largest span of any bridge in Germany. The rehabilitation of the Emmerich Rhine Bridge is thus making a successful contribution to the preservation of Germany's bridge infrastructure and at the same time preserving this important monument of civil engineering.
Service of LAP: Recalculation of the river bridge, structural design and object-related damage analysis
Client: Landesbetrieb Straßenbau Nordrhein-Westfalen
Construction: JV Rheinbrücke Emmerich: Hans Tiefenbach GmbH, Teupe & Söhne Gerüstbau GmbH, Stahlbau Raulf GmbH, R. Lange GmbH
Photo: Teupe Gruppe