Lennetal Bridge, A45

Hagen, Germany

By replacing the Lennetal Bridge with a new structure, HOCHTIEF is realizing a unique project on the A45 highway near the city of Hagen: Parallel to the existing bridge, a new bridge is constructed on provisional piers. At a later stage, it will be shifted sideways and thus directly replace the carriageway into one direction of the old bridge. 

The special challenge is that the bridge to be moved is roughly one kilometer long. It is the first ever lateral shift of this scale in Germany. 

The special construction method helps reduce interruptions to traffic during the construction period to a minimum: HOCHTIEF first builds the superstructure (west) on provisional piers parallel to the existing bridge. Afterwards, this new bridge element will carry the traffic in both directions. The old bridge will then be demolished and the other side of the new bridge in the direction of Dortmund (superstructure east) will be built. Afterwards, the entire traffic will be redirected to the second, new half of the bridge. Finally, the roughly one-kilometer-long west bridge will be shifted laterally onto its final piers and the provisional piers will be demolished. 

During construction of the Lennetal Bridge, HOCHTIEF is also responsible for the execution planning. The newly constructed bridge only has two construction joints, one each at the northern and at the southern support. As a result, driving noise will be minimized in future. In addition, 3.5-meter-high noise protection walls on both sides of the bridge, as well as a special poured asphalt provide for less noise nuisance to local residents. 

In connection with the new bridge, sustainability also plays an important role. Among others, "environmental construction support" is performed in close cooperation with the environmental center "Biologische Station" of the city of Hagen. 

Facts

• Country: Germany
• Client: Straßen.NRW, Regionalniederlassung Südwestfalen, Standort Hagen
• Construction period: 2013 - 2018
• Length: 984.50 m
• Special feature: Lateral shift