Schwandbach Bridge, deck-stiffened reinforced concrete arch bridge in Rüeggisberg, canton of Bern, Switzerland
Schwandbach Bridge is a deck-stiffened reinforced concrete arch bridge near Bern, completed in November 1933 to a design by Robert Maillart. Its polygonal arch, only 200 mm thick, spans 37 metres and carries the curved road deck on 160 mm cross walls; the arch widens from 4.2 to 6 metres, one edge straight between the banks and the other following the road's curve.
Robert Maillart designed the Schwandbach Bridge, which was completed in November 1933 at a cost of 47,298 CHF. It was his first bridge to rely entirely on reinforced concrete, without the masonry arch approaches used at his earlier Valtschielbach Bridge. In 1947 it was shown with other Maillart works in a four-month exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The bridge carries a road that curves in plan, so drivers cross on a bending alignment between the banks of the Schwarzwasser. The deck is 55.6 m long overall, with a 37 m main span, and the arch narrows from 6 m to 4.2 m along its length. Walkers share the roadway; there is no separate footway.
The arch is polygonal rather than curved and only 200 mm thick, yet it carries the deck through 160 mm cross walls. Its width varies from 4.2 to 6 m: one edge runs straight between the river banks, the other follows the road's curve, which resists centrifugal forces and the deck's tendency to twist.
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