Schwarzwaldbrücke, Road bridge in Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.

The Schwarzwaldbrücke is a ten-lane prestressed concrete bridge over the Rhine, 233.5 metres long and 47.7 metres wide, built between 1970 and 1973. Two groups of four piers stand in the Molasse bedrock, with a main span of 119 metres and side spans of 59.5 and 55.2 metres. Four central lanes carry the A2 motorway, three outer lanes on each side serve local traffic, and raised pavements about 3 metres wide run along both edges.

Plans for the bridge emerged from the 1960 decision of the federal chambers to build a national road network, including the N2 from Basel to Chiasso. After long public debate, Basel's Grand Council chose the inner east tangent route in 1966, and construction of the bridge ran from 1970 to 1973. It replaced the neighbouring St. Alban Bridge, demolished in 1973.

The bridge carries the name of the Schwarzwaldallee road it continues, and its central four lanes are reserved for the A2/A5 motorway while three lanes on each side serve local traffic on Hauptstrasse 3/7. Its roughly 3-metre raised pavements on both flanks are used by pedestrians crossing the Rhine.

The bridge is open to all forms of traffic throughout the day, with separate lanes for cars, bicycles, and pedestrians. You can cross it anytime, especially if exploring the Badischer Bahnhof area.

The Schwarzwaldbrücke replaced the St. Alban Bridge, which stood beside it and was demolished in 1973 once the new crossing took over its local traffic. Planners forgot bicycles entirely, so markings had to be painted on afterwards.