Traffic Opening Elisabeth Bridge

Elisabeth Bridge in Halle is the central link between old and new city. It leads tramway, bicycle and pedestrian traffic over river Saale. The Saale floods of 2013 severely damaged the bridge – damages at the foundations were much more serious than initially thought which is why the bridge had to be replaced by a new structure.
After only elven month of construction, during an inauguration ceremony, the new bridge was officially opened on 2 August by the public utilities subsidiary Hallesche Verkehrs-AG (HAVAG). The very short and efficient construction period was solely made possible by the modular construction method. Elisabeth Bridge is the first German bridge built by VTR (composite girder grid) method. The superstructure is made of longitudinal steel girders onto which serially produced and structurally prestressed reinforced concrete cross girders are placed which are then connected to the longitudinal girders to form a grid. Modularly manufactured slabs, as fully and semi-prefabricated elements (with in-situ concrete supplement) complete the grid of longitudinal and cross girders creating a continuous deck slab. Construction time played a significant role during this project as the replacement was financed through federal flood relief funds which must be accounted for by the end of 2024. The new construction was erected north of the old structure so that public transport could be maintained throughout the whole construction time. Moreover, the quality of the alignment and consequently user comfort have been significantly improved and an easy construction execution was guaranteed. On the new bridge, cyclists enjoy 2-metre-wide lanes in both directions, sidewalks are 2.5 metres wide. This is a significant improvement of the previous situation. We are happy about the successful, on-time completion of the first structure in Germany built by the SSF patented VTR method.