Three companies have joined forces to take on a contract worth US$219 million to replace a road and rail bridge over the world’s busiest artificial waterway.
The Levensau Bridge, with its distinctive red arch, is one of the oldest structures spanning the Kiel Canal, which joins the Baltic and the North seas in Germany. Dating to 1894, the bridge has aged out. It also lacks navigational clearance for larger vessels, and is too narrow to allow for a planned canal expansion.
The contract was won by a JV consisting of SEH Engineering – a German subsidiary of Eiffage Métal; BEMO Tunnelling; and Metrostav DIZ.
Visualisation of the new structure. Credit: Eiffage
The steel superstructure, which also features prominent arches, will be manufactured in the SEH factories in Hanover, Germany, and the Metrostav facilities in the Czech Republic. BEMO will take on civil engineering work.
The railway on the new bridge opens in Autumn 2027, while local motor traffic, pedestrians and cyclists will have to wait a little longer. The south abutment of the old bridge was found to shelter a bat roost, so this part of the structure will be retained and incorporated into the new bridge.
