Fulda Valley Bridge Bergshausen, Steel highway bridge in Hesse, Germany.
The Fulda Valley Bridge Bergshausen is a seven-span steel truss bridge carrying the A44 autobahn over the Fulda valley south of Kassel. Its deck lies up to 55 m above the valley floor, and its total span is 699.68 m, with individual spans between 79.20 m and 143.20 m. The two steel truss superstructures have a system height of 6.0 m and a truss node spacing of 8.4 m.
Planning for the Kassel south junction began in 1934; foundation work started in 1941 and was halted by the war. A consortium of Aug. Klönne, Philipp Holzmann and Teerbau built the first superstructure with one lane per direction between 1959 and 1962, and a second deck followed in 1971 at a cost of 20.3 million marks. Repairs ran from 2006 to 2008, and in 2018–2019 the decks were strengthened for use until 2028.
The bridge's steel truss design is now rare among German motorway bridges. Its two decks were built by a consortium of Aug. Klönne, Philipp Holzmann and Teerbau between 1959 and 1962, with a second deck added in 1971. Residents of Bergshausen have campaigned over the planned replacement, which would stand about 700 metres further south and away from the village.
The bridge carries the A44 between the Kassel-West interchange and the Kassel-Süd triangle; there is no pedestrian crossing on the deck. Beneath it run the L3124 from Dennhausen to Kassel and the Fulda cycle path, which pass the piers and give the clearest view of the steel trusses. A speed limit applies on the existing structure until the replacement is built.
The southern deck carries Germany's first orthotropic steel plate deck on a truss bridge, 13.64 m wide with a hard shoulder; the northern deck is 12.5 m wide without one. The deck plate rests on cross girders spaced 2.8 m apart, and the bridge is fixed longitudinally on the river pier at the eastern Fulda bank.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,095 contributors worldwide.