Elbebrücke Wittenberge, Steel girder bridge in Brandenburg, Germany
The Elbebrücke Wittenberge is a 1110 m steel road bridge carrying the B 189 from Stendal to Perleberg over the Elbe west of Wittenberge. It consists of a 410 m three-span river bridge with a single-cell hollow box girder and an orthotropic deck 11.9 m wide, plus a 14-span approach bridge on the southern bank.
Wittenberge's only fixed Elbe crossing until 1978 was a railway bridge of the Magdeburg–Wittenberge line, opened in 1851 and also used by road traffic between trains. Planning for a two-lane road bridge with two footpaths began in the early 1970s as part of a 21.5 km bypass from Weisen to Seehausen; the bridge opened in 1978. In 2019 its condition was rated critical, and it is to be replaced by a new structure.
Until 1851 Wittenberge had no fixed Elbe crossing; from then on a railway bridge of the Magdeburg–Wittenberge line carried road traffic between trains. The road bridge opened in 1978 as part of a 21.5 km bypass from Weisen to Seehausen, and its two lanes and two footpaths made it the everyday link between Stendal and Perleberg.
The bridge lies west of Wittenberge at Elbe kilometre 456.3, carrying the B 189 between Stendal and Perleberg. It has two lanes and two footways, so crossing on foot is possible. From 2026 the old structure is to be demolished and replaced on the same spot, with traffic using the new A 14 bridge beside it as a diversion.
At 1,110 metres, it is the longest road bridge built in the former GDR. Its 410-metre main span crosses the navigation channel with a 160-metre opening, while the southern foreland bridge is made of 14 spans of 50 metres each.
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