Elbe Bridge

In the first half of the 1970s, three construction projects were prepared to complete the second ring road. The first was the construction of the bridge at the river confluence in 1968–1974, designed by Milan Rejchl and engineer Jan Schwaller. This was followed by the contemporary Elbe Bridge designed by Jiří Hejnice and Karl Dahinter. The ring road was connected by the last bridge over the Orlice River near the all-sports stadium completed in 1980.
 

Karel Dahinter, Jiří Hejnic and collaborating architect Jiří Trnka were inspired by the construction and shape of the bridge at the river confluence designed by Milan Rejchl. They also built the bridge from prestressed reinforced concrete, which was concreted simultaneously from both banks. The bridge is carried by a three-span strut-and-tie frame structure and it had to be founded on 96 piles (48 on each side) with a diameter of 52cm. The bridge is designed as a two-lane bridge deck with a gap in the middle, so it essentially consists of two separate, self-supporting structures. The bridge is 78m long and the two bridge decks together are 26m wide.
 

Compared to the earlier project designed by Milan Rejchl and Jan Schwaller, this bridge does not have spiral ramps for bicycles and has an obviously more robust construction. From a transport and urban planning point of view, this is a major project that has enabled the vision of a second urban ring road, which was built for almost the entire 20th century.

 

LZL