Weihe Viaduct

Not to be confused with Wiehltal bridge.

The Weihe Viaduct (German: Weihetalbrücke, also known as Talbrücke Richelsdorf) is a motorway bridge on the Bundesautobahn 4 (A 4) near Richelsdorf, Germany.^[1] The bridge is located between the eastbound and westbound exits for Gerstungen on the route between Bad Hersfeld (Hesse) and Eisenach (Thuringia).

It is a prestressed concrete bridge with a length of 584 m, and rests on eight columns. It crosses the valley of the small river Weihe.^{[citation needed]}

History

The construction of the bridge had been planned since the beginning of the 1940s. Construction began but halted,^[2] leaving only a few columns built. This was due to its location near the former border between the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. Instead, a provisional route through the valley was constructed for the motorway.

After the 1990 German reunification, traffic increased considerably, and in 1992 construction of a new bridge was started. The new bridge cost 45 million DM and was inaugurated in 1994. It was opened to traffic in 1995.^[3] Two of the old columns were kept as a monument.^[3]

References

1. Slomski, W.; Hensel, B. (February 1994). "Entwurf und Bau der Talbrücke Richelsdorf". Beton- und Stahlbetonbau. 89 (2): 35–39. doi:10.1002/best.199400070. ISSN 0005-9900.
2. "Grundhafte Erneuerung in den Abschnitten Bad Hersfeld West und Ost". autobahn.de (in German). Die Autobahn GmbH des Bundes.
3. Müller, Hanno (20 March 2015). "Die Auferstehung der A 4 im Thüringer Zipfel". www.thueringer-allgemeine.de (in German). FUNKE Mediengruppe.

50°57′36″N 10°02′41″E