South Bridge, Railway bridge in Cologne, Germany
The South Bridge is a two-track railway bridge over the Rhine, 368 m long with spans of 101.5 m, 165 m and 101.5 m. Its steel structure forms three shallow arches above a horizontal deck, carried by two massive stone piers in the river; the stair towers are Neo-Romanesque. It links Neustadt-Süd and Bayenthal on the left bank with Deutz and Poll on the right.
Construction started in 1906 under the Prussian State Railway and finished in 1910 as an important railway connection. It emerged during a period of rail network expansion that reshaped Cologne's infrastructure.
The stair towers are Neo-Romanesque and carry rich figurative sculpture by the Berlin sculptor Gotthold Riegelmann. The bridge also carries a 110 kV railway power line, installed in 2002 on brackets fixed to the structure; on the right bank each cable is routed individually around the bridge towers.
The structure is accessible to pedestrians and cyclists on dedicated paths that run separately from the railway tracks. The best views of the bridge and its details can be enjoyed from the eastern bank or from the riverside paths.
Since 2002 a 110 kV railway power line from Cologne to Sindorf has crossed the Rhine on brackets fixed to the bridge structure. On the right bank, each cable is routed individually around the stair towers, and the conductors above the tracks are mounted as steel tubes on standing insulators.
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