Construction—EMEA—Germany—Bridges
DYWIDAG Tendons for Germany’s largest Bascule Bridge:
The new Hunte Bridge near Berne
Between the municipality of Berne and the town of Elsfleth in the Wesermarsch administrative district northwest of Bremen,
a new bascule bridge was recently built over the Hunte River. The bascule bridge replaces a 1951 lift bridge located at a
distance of approximately 20m from the new structure that no longer fulfilled today’s technical requirements.
Photo reprinted courtesy of Bauunternehmen Echterhoff GmbH & CO. KG, Germany
The new bridge is part of the new construction
of Federal Road No. 212 in Lower Saxony.
Thanks to its clearance that is 1.90m higher
than that of the old lift bridge, and thanks to its
efficient lifting and lowering mechanism, it will
significantly reduce wait times for traffic.
The new bascule bridge has a total length of
84m, making it the largest single-leaf bascule
bridge in Germany. The western approach
bridge has a length of approximately 60m,
while the eastern approach is approximately
90m long. The superstructure of the bascule
bridge consists of steel over a substructure of
reinforced concrete. The bridge was designed
with a shallow foundation and is supported by
an abutment.
The open spans of the bridge measure
66.3m, and the structure has a design width
of 14.65m. When the bridge is fully opened,
the leaf reaches a height of 70m. The rear
part of the bridge deck lowers itself into the
foundation of the bridge pier during opening,
serving as a counterweight. The 700t leaf of
the bridge was positioned from the shore.
The 115t pivot bearing was assembled on site
using a heavy-duty crane.
To post-tension the two approach bridges,
DSI supplied 48t of Type SUSPA Systems,
19-0.62" Strand Tendons conforming to
Z-13.1-129 approval.
Inside the mechanism, where the hydraulic
power unit with pulling cylinders is located,
108 unbonded, 26mm, 32mm and 40mm Ø,
WR, grade 950/1050 DYWIDAG Bar Tendons
conforming to Z-13.72-50123 approval were
installed to stabilize the bascule system with
the bottom counterweight and the accessible
rear assembly.
Owner
Lower Saxonian Federal
State Authority for Road
Construction and Traffic,
Germany
Architect
LINDSCHULTE
Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH,
Germany
DSI Unit
DYWIDAG-Systems International
GmbH, BU Post-Tensioning,
Germany
DSI Scope
Production, supply, installation
DYWIDAG Products
48t of Type SUSPA Systems, 19-0.62"
Strand Tendons, 12t of 26mm, 32mm
and 40mm Ø DYWIDAG Bar Tendons
A unique feature of this project was the
tensioning of the anchorages of the
DYWIDAG Bar Tendons for the bascule
bridge. The stressing of the 44, St 32 WR
DYWIDAG Bar Tendons was carried
out at a height of approximately 8m
from below using a 110 MP Jack.
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