Mariansky Bridge - Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic



Architect
 Roman Koucký architectonická kancelár
Structural engineer: Milan Komínek
Date Built
 1995 - 1998
Location
 Over the River Elbe at Usti nad Labem
Description
The Mariansky Bridge crosses the River Elbe as it passes the city of Usti nad Labem.  The site offered a number of challenges to the designer of the bridge.  On the far bank a narrow strip of land, wedged between the river and a rockface (known as the Marianska skala), is occupied by a road and railway corridor.  On that side of the river the Elbe is also much deeper and used as an important shipping channel.  To accommodate both of these factors the bridge only has one pylon on the right-hand side of the river.

Dywidas-Systems International supplied the stays for the bridge.  They say of the project, "This bridge will be the second river crossing for Ústí nad Labem, a city with a population of 100,000. For the first time the downtown area will be connected with the opposite side of the river. The bridge itself is a non-symmetrical stay cable structure with a main span of 123.3 m and end spans of 55.5 m and a 60 m tall pylon that is inclined in both directions. The 24 m wide steel super structure is carried by two planes of DYWIDAG stays that are anchored in the top half of the tower. The design of the bridge considered the local geology since it was necessary to keep the structure as light as possible and to shift the mass more towards the opposite side of the so called Mary's rock formation on the western shore. The weight of the main span was minimized by using a steel orthotropic deck whereas the side spans are composite steel-concrete."