IN SHORT
The Kronprinzen Bridge in Berlin was a design submission for an invited competition held in 1991, organized by the Senatsverwaltung für Bau und Wohnungswesen. The original Kronprinzen Bridge over the River Spree was built between 1877 and 1889, based on the Schinkel's Schloss Bridge. It was demolished in 1972 to prevent refugees fleeing from the East Berlin to the West. The new bridge, built on the same site and partially financed by the European Community, is a symbolic gesture of the German reunification. The primary structural system is a steel-stiffened arch reinforced by cross ribs, which support the metal road deck. These components are thus engaged as the top and bottom chords of Veerendel truss, with the resulting reduction in both the weight and deflection of the span permitting a shallower than normal arch.
Although the oblique arches and the bridge's underside bear a passing resemblance to the space-frame and cantilevered appearance of the Wettstein Bridge, in this case the entire structure is supported by cross girders. The span adopts the traditional Spree bridge rhythm, with its steel arches resting on piers which resemble a vessel's prow. These buttresses are of welded steel, with cast joints to receive the springing points. The road surface is 12.5-meter (41 feet) wide, with the elevated bicycle lane set one step higher than the road level, and the pedestrian walk set a further two steps higher. The short lighting posts rise up to separate the pedestrian and vehicular surfaces, and at either end of the bridge a stair connection leads down to the river footpath.
YEAR
1991 - 1996
ADDRESS
Kronprinzenbrücke
10557 Berlin
Germany
AWARDS
- ECCS European Steel Design Award 2003