Cologne Rodenkirchen Bridge, Suspension bridge in Rodenkirchen district, Cologne, Germany.
The Cologne Rodenkirchen Bridge is a 567-metre steel suspension bridge carrying the A4 autobahn over the Rhine at kilometre 683.8. Its four pale green pylons, 59.4 metres tall and 26.4 metres apart, stand in pairs joined by a crossbeam, and the main cables hang 42 metres between pylon and mid-span. The deck is a steel orthotropic plate on a girder grid, and the abutments are clad in shell limestone.
Engineer Fritz Leonhardt designed this bridge in 1938, and it opened in 1941 before suffering severe wartime damage. It was rebuilt between 1952 and 1954 after the war and underwent expansion work during the 1990s.
The bridge is named after Rodenkirchen, the Cologne district on its left bank. Its official name during the Nazi period was "Adolf-Hitler-Brücke"; it was inaugurated under that name on 20 September 1941. The structure is painted in Kölner Brückengrün, the shade used on Cologne's municipal bridges, and the abutments are clad in Muschelkalk limestone, with granite used on the piers up to the mean water line.
The bridge is accessible daily and primarily carries motor traffic, though pedestrians and cyclists can use it as well. Expect congestion during rush hours, particularly in the morning and evening when crossing with vehicles.
The 1990–1994 widening added a twin deck on the north side, and the load is shared equally by three main cables: the two from 1954 plus a new third one. It is the only suspension bridge where the load is distributed evenly over three cables, achieved through the stiffness of the crossbeams and post-tensioning of the new cable.
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