The Pierre Pflimlin Bridge () is a long motorway

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

over the river

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, with a main span measuring . It connects Germany and France, at

Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...

and

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. It is named after

Pierre Pflimlin Pierre Eugène Jean Pflimlin (; 5 February 1907 – 27 June 2000) was a French Christian Democrat politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic for a few weeks in 1958, before being replaced by Charles de Gaulle during the ...

, a former

French prime minister The prime minister of France (), officially the prime minister of the French Republic (''Premier ministre de la République française''), is the head of government of the French Republic and the leader of its Council of Ministers. The prime m ...

, and was opened in 2002. It was funded by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Construction

Planned for several decades, it was built during the late 1990s and early 2000s by the construction companies

Bilfinger Berger Bilfinger SE (previously named Bilfinger Berger AG) is a German multinational company specialized in civil and industrial construction, engineering and services based in Mannheim, Germany. History Bilfinger dates back to 1880 when August Be ...

and Max Früh. *The central segments (located over the river) were built in balanced cantilever, cast-in-place fashion, extending outwards from each of the two pylon islands constructed in the stream. A concrete volume of 18.000 m3, 760 t of prestressing steel, and 2.700 t of reinforcing steel were used in total.Pierre Pflimlin Bridge
(

Structurae Structurae is an online database containing pictures and information about structural engineering, structural and civil engineering works, and their associated engineers, architects, and builders. Overview Structurae was founded in 1998 by Nico ...

database entry) *The pylons were constructed on

caissons Caisson (French for "box") may refer to: * Caisson (engineering), a sealed underwater structure * Caisson (vehicle), a two-wheeled cart for carrying ammunition, also used in certain state and military funerals * Caisson (Asian architecture), a sp ...

floated into place and secured with 50 m deep foundation piles, and are designed to withstand earthquakes and ship impacts. *The approach bridge on the French side was built in segments, and then pushed horizontally onto the approach pylons, while the approach bridge section on the German side was built by another German company and was cast in place with standard formwork. *The hollow construction of all bridge segments has both pre-stressed and post-stressed components, realized by the French specialist construction company Freyssinet. The formwork was provided by PERI. The funding for its construction was provided 55.5% by France, 38.6% by Germany and 5.9% by the

.
A new bridge over the Rhine
' - ViaMichelin.com, Saturday 15 February 2003

Function

The bridge's main purpose is to reduce pressure on the only other Rhine bridge in the vicinity, the

Europe bridge Europe bridge is the name of several bridges in Europe : *In Austria as ''Europabrücke'' **Europabrücke, a bridge over the Wipp valley (1963), highest bridge in Europe until 2004 and Millau Viaduct achievement *In Belgium as ''Pont de l'Europe'' ...

( or ), also located at

, to the north. The Pierre Pflimlin Bridge links the motorway

Lauterbourg Lauterbourg ( or ; ) (historically in English: Lauterburgh) is a commune and Bas-Rhin department in the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. Situated on the German border and not far from the German city of Karlsruhe, it i ...

–

– Saint-Louis– Basle from France to the A5

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

–

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

–

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

motorway in Germany. It has two lanes to carry cars and other motor vehicles and two lanes reserved for pedestrian and cycle traffic. Due to the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

, there are no border controls on the bridge, despite it spanning the French–German border.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 48.491400, 7.769740, type:landmark, display=title Cantilever bridges Bridges over the Rhine Bridges completed in 2002 International bridges in France International bridges in Germany Road bridges in Germany Buildings and structures in Bas-Rhin Transport in Grand Est Bridges in Baden-Württemberg 2002 establishments in France 2002 establishments in Germany France–Germany border crossings 21st-century architecture in France

Construction

Function

See also

References

External links