Carola Bridge, Steel railway bridge in Bad Schandau and Rathmannsdorf, Germany

The Carola Bridge is a 187 m steel railway bridge over the Elbe at kilometre 11.86, linking Krippen (Bad Schandau) with Wendischfähre (Rathmannsdorf). Its river span has three openings: 52.0 m at each end and 83.2 m in the middle, where a steel arch with vertical hangers stiffens the shallow trough girder. Sandstone piers and columns stand at the ends of the river section.

Construction of the bridge began in 1874 and finished in 1877, initially designed with separate sections for rail and road traffic. During the 1990s, major renovation work replaced the original iron framework with a new arch design.

The bridge is named after Carola of Vasa (1833–1907), who became Queen of Saxony in 1873; the Czech sources give her as the namesake. Trains still cross on the Bautzen–Bad Schandau line, and the crossing is visible from the riverside at river kilometre 11.86 between Krippen and Wendischfähre.

The bridge carries only rail traffic, so it is seen from a train on the Bautzen–Bad Schandau line or from the banks of the Elbe below. The river section has a clearance of 6.53 m at the highest navigable water level, and boats pass under the 83.2 m central span.

The two river piers are deep-founded on wooden piles, while the approach-span piers rest on shallow foundations. The bridge crosses the Elbe at kilometre 11.86, and its clearance is 6.53 m at the highest navigable water level. Since late 2024, the operator Deutsche Bahn has been examining whether the bridge could also serve as a temporary road crossing.