Rhine Bridge (Worms)

Worms Rhine Bridge Rheinbrücke Worms
Current bridge, looking towards the eastern bank of the Rhine
Coordinates	49°39′2″N 8°22′23″E / 49.65056°N 8.37306°E / 49.65056; 8.37306Coordinates: 49°39′2″N 8°22′23″E / 49.65056°N 8.37306°E / 49.65056; 8.37306
Carries	Worms–Biblis railway
Crosses	Rhine
Locale	Worms, Germany
Characteristics
Design	Steel truss bridge
Total length	930 m
Longest span	118.3 m
History
Opened	30 November 1900
Rebuilt	15 October 1948 29 May 1960

The Worms Rhine Bridge (German: Rheinbrücke Worms) is a two-track railway bridge that spans the Rhine river to the north of Worms, Germany, forming part of the Worms–Biblis railway.

Already in 1868, the Hessian Ludwig Railway was obliged, under its concession for the Darmstadt-Worms line, to build a bridge over the Rhine as soon as its finances allowed. From 1870 to 1901, rail traffic used the Worms–Rosengarten train ferry, a ferry between the port of Worms and Rosengarten on the eastern side of the Rhine.

An agreement was signed in 1894 by the city, the government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and the railway company for the construction of the Rhine bridge as part of the reconstruction of Worms station. The construction was first announced in 1896, but the start of construction was delayed until mid 1898, due to the nationalisation of the Hessian Ludwig Railway Company in 1897. All of the construction of the 961 metre-long structure was carried out by the Actiengesellschaft für Eisenindustrie und Brückenbau, a subsidiary of the Duisburg company, Johann Caspar Harkort. Its submission, prepared in conjunction with Aachen Professor Georg Frentzen, had won the first prize in a design competition.

A two-track iron bridge with three, tied-arch spans was built over the Rhine, with the outside spans being 102.2 m long and the central span being 116.8 m long. This type of construction was applied in Germany for the first time on a railway bridge and was later used for other rail bridges, such as the Cologne South Bridge. The bridge was framed by two massive gate towers. The east bank flood bridge had separate structures for each track, each with 17 34.5 m-long spans. These were built as truss bridges with the railway tracks running above parallel girders connected by timber framing.

The river piers were based on 156 m² caissons, the other piers were built on concrete foundations between retaining walls. The bridge was opened after two years and six months of construction on 30 November 1900 in the presence of Grand Duke Ernest Louis.