Hohenwarthe Bridge, Girder bridge in Möser, Germany

The Hohenwarthe Bridge carries the Autobahn 2 over the Elbe and its diked floodplain north of Magdeburg, at river kilometre 338.60. Its 1170 m run is split into a 25-span prestressed concrete approach bridge on 1935 pillars clad in granite and a steel-composite river bridge with spans of 93, 140.71 and 93 m. The northern carriageway is 21.75 m wide and carries a foot and cycle path.

The first bridge opened on 10 January 1937 as part of the Reichsautobahn Berlin–Hannover, with an 832 m solid foreland section and a 327 m steel river span. On 13 April 1945 the German Wehrmacht blew up the river span; a wooden temporary bridge followed the same year, and full two-lane traffic in both directions was only restored in 1980. The current structure was built from 1994 and finished in 1997 under the six-lane expansion of the A2, at a cost of about 107 million DM.

The bridge carries the Autobahn 2, the route of the former Reichsautobahn Berlin–Hannover opened to traffic on 10 January 1937. Its northern steel-composite deck includes a footpath and cycle path, 2.5 m wider than the southern deck, so pedestrians and cyclists cross the Elbe beside the motorway.

The bridge is part of the Bundesautobahn 2 and connects two major traffic corridors across the Elbe River. You can best view the structure from the riverbank areas or from the adjacent roads nearby.

The 1994–1997 replacement was built by Walter Bau AG (approach bridge) and Max Bögl (river bridge) for about 107 million DM. The 120 m, 840 t steel centre section was welded together beside the bridge, floated in on a pontoon and lifted with strand jacks.