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Case Study: Rodenkirchen Bridge - A Complex Bridge Retrofit

A strategic link in the Cologne ring road in Germany, the Rodenkirchen Bridge was doubled in width in 1994 following a complex engineering operation led by Cleveland Bridge.

The 378m span suspension bridge was opened in 1940, destroyed by bombing in 1945 and rebuilt in 1954. The preferred option to double the carriageway across the Rhine at this point was to double the deck width. This required new tower legs and a third cable – with the requirement that the deck loads be evenly distributed between the three cables. As the first modern suspension bridge in Europe, Rodenkirchen is now the only three cabled suspension bridge in the world.

Cleveland Bridge was invited by German contractors to apply suspension bridge expertise to a unique bridge-building problem.

 
Rodenkirchen Bridge, Germany

In joint venture Cleveland Bridge:

  • completed the detail design of the new bridgeworks using UK consultants;

  • engineered the construction of the widened tower portals, third cable construction, and erection of new steel decks over the full width;
  • fabricated half of the 12,000t of new steelwork in stiffening girder and orthotropic decks;
  • erected the new bridgeworks with the existing span open to traffic at all times;
  • replaced the existing concrete deck with a steel deck, and;
  • erection of the 2,200m long deck at site, including lifting of the 1,000t units with gantries on the main cables;

  • ensured the precise load transfer between cables to achieve the design requirement

The widening project presented a very different technical challenge, which required expert understanding of suspension bridge design and their behaviour during construction. Connecting new works incrementally to existing bridgework under constant traffic (80,000 vehicles a day) over a busy river broke new ground in bridge engineering.

Complex bridge retrofit is a Cleveland Bridge speciality exemplified also by projects for the Forth Road Bridge, the M5 Avonmouth Bridge, Tamar Bridge – Britain’s first modern suspension bridge and currently the Tinsley Viaduct.
Bridge strengthening and retrofit   Suspension Bridges