Göltzsch Viaduct
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Göltzsch Viaduct Göltzschtalbrücke |
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| Coordinates | 50°37′21″N 12°14′37″E / 50.62258°N 12.24374°E |
| Carries | Two railway tracks |
| Crosses | Göltzsch river |
| Locale | Netzschkau, Saxony, Germany |
| Maintained by | Deutsche Bahn |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Material | Brick |
| Total length | 574 metres (1,883 ft) |
| Width | 23 metres (75 ft) at the foot 9 metres (30 ft) at the top |
| Height | 78 metres (256 ft) |
| No. of spans | 98 vaults in total divided over 4 levels; the top level is composed of 29 arches, the widest arch spanning 30.9 metres (101 ft) |
| History | |
| Designer | Johann Andreas Schubert |
| Construction begin | 31 May 1846 |
| Construction end | 1851 |
| Construction cost | 2.2 million Thalers |
| Opened | 15 July 1851 |
| World's largest brick bridge, sporting a total of 26,021,000 bricks and a volume of 135,676 cubic metres (4,791,400 cu ft). | |
The Göltzsch Viaduct (German: Göltzschtalbrücke) is a railway bridge in Germany. It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world. It spans the valley of the Göltzsch River between Mylau and Netzschkau, around 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) west of Reichenbach im Vogtland in the German Free State of Saxony. It was built between 1846 and 1851 as part of the railway between Saxony (Leipzig, Zwickau, and Plauen) and Bavaria (Hof and Nuremberg). It is currently part of the Leipzig–Hof line, near the Netzschkau station. About 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south, the smaller Elster Viaduct was built for the same line and is quite similar to the Göltzsch Viaduct.
Göltzsch Viaduct is also the name of a much smaller viaduct built in 1938 where Bundesautobahn 72 crosses the Göltzsch River. It sits about 10 km (6 mi) due southeast near the village of Weissensand.
Göltzsch Viaduct (previously Mylau Central Station) was also the name of a terminus opened in 1895 on the Reichenbach–Göltzsch Viaduct railway in the Göltzsch valley below the railway bridge. From here, trains departed to the central station of Reichenbach im Vogtland and to Lengenfeld.
One of the greatest challenges in constructing a railway between Saxony and Bavaria was how to bridge the Göltzsch valley. Hoping to find a financially feasible construction plan, the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company announced a contest on 27 January 1845 in all major German magazines with prize money of 1000 Thalers. However, none of the 81 submissions could prove by means of structural analysis that it would be able to withstand the stresses of rail traffic on the bridge. The prize money was eventually divided among four contestants, but none of their designs were actually realized.
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