Apollo Bridge (, provisionally known as ''Most Košická'' during construction, after the street leading to it) in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

is a road

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

over the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

in the capital of

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. It is located between the Starý most and Prístavný most Bridges, a site which allowed almost perpendicular bridging, resulting in the shortest possible span. Construction of the bridge began in 2003. The bridge was opened to the public on September 5, 2005. It is named for the "Apollo" (modern successor: Slovnaft) oil refinery which was situated on the left river bank in this area before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Its curved lines, inclined arches and virtual absence of right angles make the geometric shape of the bridge very sophisticated. In an unprecedented maneuver, the 5,240-ton

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

structure, spanning 231 metres, was rotated across the river from its construction site on the left bank into its final position on a pillar 40 metres from the right bank. The Apollo Bridge was the only European project named one of five finalists for the 2006 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OPAL Award) by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

Gallery

File:Bratislava-14.jpg File:Most Apollo 2.jpg, The rotation of the bridge File:Most Apollo 1.jpg, The rotation of the bridge File:Apollo bridge at night.JPG, Apollo Bridge at night File:Apollo bridge1.jpg File:Apollo bridge.jpg

References

External links

Comprehensive information about the bridge

OPAL Award nomination page on ASCE site

Pictures from different stages of the construction

Bridges in Bratislava Bridges over the Danube Steel bridges

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

2000s establishments in Slovakia 21st-century architecture in Slovakia Modernist architecture in Slovakia {{Slovakia-bridge-struct-stub