Rhine Bridge, Kehl

The Rhine Bridge at Kehl Pont ferroviaire de Kehl Rheinbrücke Kehl
The bridges of 1956 and 2010
Coordinates	48°34′32″N 7°48′3″E / 48.57556°N 7.80083°E / 48.57556; 7.80083Coordinates: 48°34′32″N 7°48′3″E / 48.57556°N 7.80083°E / 48.57556; 7.80083
Carries	Rail traffic
Crosses	River Rhine
Locale	Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany
Characteristics
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	238.4 metres (782 ft)
Width	6.66 metres (21.9 ft) (1956–2010) 13 metres (43 ft) (from 2010)
Height	8 metres (26 ft) (1956–2010) 12.2 metres (40 ft) (from 2010)
History
Opened	May 1861 (first railway bridge) December 2010 (most recent bridge)
The Rhine Bridge at Kehl Location in Germany

The first railway bridge at Kehl across the Rhine was opened in May 1861. Since then the bridge has been partially or fully destroyed more than once.

The Kehl railway bridge constructed in 1956, was a single track railway bridge between Strasbourg and Kehl, crossing in the process both the River Rhine and the frontier between Germany and France.

A replacement double track railway bridge was first used on 10 October 2010 and formally opened in December 2010 in order to permit trains to cross the river more rapidly. The speed limit on the new bridge is 160 km/h (100 mph).

Under the terms of an international convention dated 2 July 1857 between Baden and the French government it was agreed that a railway bridge should be constructed across the Rhine between Kehl and Strasbourg. This would be the first permanent bridge across the Upper Rhine.

The structure would comprise a twin track bridge 253 metres (830 ft) long, with a central truss section of 177 metres (581 ft). On each side of the bridge would be a turntable with 26 metres (85 ft) of usable diameter.

Work began in 1858, the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est taking responsibility for the foundations. In order to sink the piles into the Rhine mud it was necessary to construct protective caissons extending 18 metres (59 ft) below the river level.

The steel superstructure was delivered and assembled by , a Pforzheim company. The superstructure weighed approximately 1000 tons, and was assembled on the west (Strasbourg) bank of the river on a site 450 metres (1,480 ft) long.

The bridge became operational on 11 May 1861.

The outbreak in 1870 of the Franco-Prussian War saw the turntable on the eastern (Kehl) end of the bridge dynamited. Until a new steel structure could be erected in 1874, a provisional timber structure was put in place. As a result of the war the frontier moved: between 1871 and 1919 both ends of the bridge were located in and wholly owned by Germany, but in 1919 it was stipulated under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that the bridge would be wholly owned by France. This was consistent with France's military occupation, under the terms of the treaty, of the formerly German Rhineland: the occupation continued in various forms until 1930.