1514x
001277
2023-08-10

King Louis Bridge in Kempten, Germany

The King Louis Bridge is listed as a heritage building; built in 1852, with a length of about 403 ft, it is an outstanding example of civil engineering in Germany. Since 1986, the former railroad bridge, made of timber and steel, has been used as a pedestrian and cyclist bridge across the more than 98-ft-deep river incision in the Iller River.

During the restoration, cultural heritage management including monument protection, preservation of the building structure's historical fabric, and sustainability were important goals for the company Konstruktionsgruppe Bauen, a German customer of Dlubal Software.

As much of the existing structure as possible was to be preserved. Only those structural components whose damage prevented further use were replaced. A newly developed weather protection solution made of inclined larch wood lamellas protects the structural system and allows an unobstructed view of the unique structure.

Structure

The bridge's supporting structure consists of two interconnected Howe trusses with spans of 125 ft, 180 ft, and 92 ft. In 1879, the bridge's interior span was reinforced by installing a steel truss to cope with increasing railroad loads.

The calculation for the restoration was carried out in RSTAB. The STEEL EC3 add-on module was used for the design of the steel components and the TIMBER Pro add-on module for the design of the timber components.

Location Illerstraße
87437 Kempten (Allgäu), Germany

Investor City of Kempten
www.kempten.de
Structural Design Konstruktionsgruppe Bauen AG
www.kb-ke.de


Project Specifications

Model Data

Number of Nodes 1302
Number of Lines 2043
Number of Members 2043
Number of Surfaces 0
Number of Solids 0
Number of Load Cases 21
Number of Load Combinations 21
Number of Result Combinations 6
Total Weight 150.426 tons
Dimensions (Metric) 122.438 x 8.240 x 4.104 m
Dimensions (Imperial) 401.7 x 27.03 x 13.46 feet

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