Leverkusen Bridge, Cable-stayed road bridge in Merkenich, Germany

The Leverkusen Bridge carries the A1 motorway over the Rhine between Cologne-Merkenich and Leverkusen-Wiesdorf. The original 1965 structure was a 687.32 m harp-pattern cable-stayed bridge with a 280 m main span, a 37.1 m wide box-girder deck and 46.1 m steel pylons. It is being replaced by two parallel structures, each 1065.65 m long with a 688.70 m cable-stayed river span and a 376.95 m approach bridge; the first opened on 4 February 2024.

Built between 1961 and 1965 to designs by engineers H. Schumann and H. Homberg, the bridge was erected by a consortium including Aug. Klönne, MAN Werk Gustavsburg, Hein Lehmann AG, Krupp and Stahlbau Humboldt AG, and opened on 5 July 1965. It carried the A1 over the Rhine as part of Cologne's northern motorway ring. After traffic far exceeded the design figure of 40,000 vehicles a day, a replacement was planned from 2016, and the first new half opened on 4 February 2024.

The bridge carries the A1, the northern section of Cologne's motorway ring, between Cologne-Merkenich and Leverkusen-Wiesdorf; the city boundary runs mid-river, so it counts as Cologne's northernmost Rhine crossing. Since 2012 trucks over 3.5 tonnes have been banned, yet thousands of lorry drivers still turn onto the A1 approach by mistake each year and are fined.

The bridge carries the A 1 motorway between Cologne-Merkenich and Leverkusen-Wiesdorf. Since 2014 vehicles over 3.5 tonnes have been barred, and a blocking system installed in 2016 stops trucks wider than 2.3 m; wrongly routed lorries cause closures. The first new deck opened on 4 February 2024, carrying all traffic on three narrowed lanes per direction until the second deck follows.

The old bridge's steel pylons rise 46.1 m above the roadway, and its hexagonal stay cables of 19 locked strands run through the pylons at heights of 17.5 and 39.5 m. The upper two cables carry forces of up to 5,563 tonnes, the lower ones 3,473 tonnes.