Rędziński Bridge

Rędziński Bridge Most Rędziński
The Rędziński Bridge illuminated at night.
Coordinates	51°9′24″N 16°57′35″E / 51.15667°N 16.95972°E / 51.15667; 16.95972
Carries	6 lanes of
Crosses	Oder
Locale	Wrocław, Lower Silesia,  Poland
Maintained by	GDDKiA
Characteristics
Design	Cable-stayed
Material	Reinforced concrete and steel
Total length	1.7 km (1.1 mi) or 1,742 m (5,715.2 ft)
Width	38.58 m (126.6 ft)
Height	122 m (400.3 ft)
Longest span	256 m (839.9 ft)
No. of spans	4 (50+256+256+50 m)
Clearance below	18 m (59.1 ft)
History
Designer	Jan Biliszczuk
Construction begin	2008 (2008)
Construction end	2011 (2011)
Opened	31 August 2011; 5 years ago (31 August 2011)

The Rędziński Bridge (Polish: Most Rędziński) is a cable-stayed bridge spanning the Oder river in Wrocław, Poland. As a section of the A8 motorway bypassing the center of Wroclaw, the bridge links both sections of the route across the Oder, providing connections to the A4 motorway to the south, and to the future sections of the S5 and S8 expressways to the northeast. With its pylon reaching a height of 122 m (400 ft) and having a total length of 1.7 km (1.1 mi), the Rędziński Bridge is the tallest and longest bridge in Poland.

Designed by Jan Biliszczuk, a professor of engineering at the Wrocław University of Technology, the bridge's design exceeded the length of the Solidarity Bridge in Płock by 30 m, then the longest bridge in the country. The contracts for the bridge's construction were awarded to the Warsaw-based Mostostal consortium and its parent Spanish firm, Acciona Infraestructuras on 20 May 2008, with construction commencing shortly afterwards. Construction of the bridge (and its main A8 motorway) continued for the next three years. Building efforts were temporarily halted during the 2010 Central European floods, but later resumed after a short delay.

The structure was unofficially named the Rędziński Bridge by its builders due to the bridge's spanning of Rędzińska Island in the Oder. In August 2011, the Wrocław bureau of GDDKiA, the branch of the Ministry of Infrastructure tasked to roads, organized a naming competition of the bridge. After over 15,000 ballots cast, "Rędziński" won 55 percent of all total votes. The name defeated other popular choices such as "Śląski" by a wide margin.