Steffenbachbrücke, Steel railway bridge in Uri, Switzerland.

The Steffenbachbrücke is a steel railway bridge on the Furka Mountain Steam Railway, crossing the Steffenbach stream between Realp and Tiefenbach at 1765 m above sea level. Its span is about 36 metres and its greatest height about 17 metres. The bridge deck consists of three steel sections and lies on a 110 ‰ gradient, like the adjacent line, with rack rail.

A stone viaduct built on this spot between 1912 and 1914 was destroyed by an avalanche in May 1916, before any train had crossed it, and the First World War delayed reconstruction. In 1925 the Theodor Bell & Cie bridge-building firm completed the present steel bridge, designed by Erminio Bernasconi, chief engineer of the Rhätische Bahn, so that it could be folded out of the path of avalanches.

The bridge forms part of a mountain railway that still operates steam locomotives and preserves traditional train travel through the Alps. Visitors experience a living connection to how people once journeyed through these high valleys.

The railway operates only during warmer months, so the bridge is accessible by train seasonally. Plan your visit for summer if you want to experience the working steam train crossing this structure.

The bridge is dismantled each autumn and rebuilt each spring without a crane: two winches, two fixed assembly trestles and pulley blocks stored in a nearby shelter suffice, and the work now takes one day per operation. The middle section, about 13 m long, is lowered to hang from the valley-side girder, where a masonry projection shields it from avalanches.