Flughafenbrücke, Cable-stayed road bridge over the Rhine in Düsseldorf, Germany

The Flughafenbrücke is a 1,286.5 m steel cable-stayed bridge carrying the A44 over the Rhine between Düsseldorf-Lohausen and Meerbusch-Ilverich. Its two V-shaped steel pylons stand only 34 m high between the carriageways, joined by crossbeams at the top, and carry 80 cables over a 287.5 m main span. The deck is 38.5 m wide with six lanes, two hard shoulders and foot and cycle paths on both sides.

Construction ran from 1998 to 2002, closing the A44 gap between Meerbusch-Ilverich and northern Düsseldorf-Lohausen; the builders were Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner and Meyer + Schubart, at a cost of 160 million Deutschmarks. The route through the Ilvericher Altrheinschlinge was contested for years. A 2008 proposal to rename it after the late mayor Joachim Erwin was rejected on 25 March 2009 by state transport minister Lutz Lienenkämper.

A public competition favoured the name "Niederrheinbrücke", but the federal transport ministry rejected it, so the bridge took its name from nearby Düsseldorf Airport. From 2008 there were moves to rename it after the late mayor Joachim Erwin; Meerbusch objected that only one end lies on Düsseldorf soil. On 25 March 2009 minister Lutz Lienenkämper decided the name would stay.

The combined foot and cycle paths on both sides of the bridge are reached via access points on each bank of the Rhine. The bridge carries six lanes plus two hard shoulders, so the side paths run directly alongside motorway traffic. The V-shaped supports stand between the two carriageways, not beside the walkways.

A conventional cable-stayed design with a 287.5 m main span would have needed pylons about 110 m tall, but the proximity of Düsseldorf Airport ruled that out as an aviation obstacle. The builders instead placed two 34 m V-shaped steel stems between the carriageways, joined by crossbeams at the top so they look like upright triangles. The name was also contested: locals voted for "Niederrheinbrücke", the transport ministry refused, and a 2009 proposal to rename it after mayor Joachim Erwin was rejected.