Karnin Lift Bridge
Coordinates: 53°50′37″N 13°51′20″E / 53.84361°N 13.85556°E
The Karnin Lift Bridge (German: Hubbrücke Karnin) is a railway bridge over the Peenestrom estuary in North Germany that was opened in 1933 and destroyed in 1945. It was part of the old Ducherow–Swinemünde railway. The lifting part of the bridge has stood since the end of the Second World War as a relic and technical monument in the middle of the Peenestrom. It was nominated for designation as a Historic Symbol of Engineering in Germany.
A predecessor of the lift bridge was built in 1875 initially as a manually operated swing bridge. It was normally kept open to enable shipping in the Peenestrom to pass and was only closed when a train needed to cross the bridge. In 1908 the line was upgraded to double track.
The lift bridge was built in 1932 and 1933 as a result of the rise in railway operations and higher traffic loads. In the same period the Niederfinow Boat Lift was built to similar design principles and is still in operation today. The commonality of the two projects was so close that the cables of the Karnin Lift Bridge were pre-stressed on the construction site of the Niederfinow Boat Lift and then transported by special railway wagons to Karnin.
The bridge had a total length of 360 metres; the length of the lifting frame is 51.7 metres and its height 35 metres. The centre pier of the old swing bridge was left in place as an additional abutment for the lifting section; that and a lightweight design of the actual lifting section resulted in considerable savings in the weight of the moving part of the bridge.
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