New Stary Most (Old Bridge) Across Danube River in Bratislava

Since December 2015, a new steel bridge spans the Danube River in Bratislava in place of the Old Bridge which was disassembled in 2014. A detail design and construction of the bridge is described in the article. The bridge carries trams, pedestrians and cyclists. The bridge has also been designed for future use of tram-trains. It crosses the Danube River with a navigation clearance of 100 m by 10 m and both embankments. The bridge has spans 32.56 + 106.68 + 137.16 + 75.6 + 75.92 + 32.56 m. The superstructure is formed by two steel lattice girders of the total height of 11.285 m in the distance of 11 m. The rails rests on longitudinal stringers supported by truss cross girders which are overhanging outside the main girders in order to support pedestrians and cycle path as well. The standard deck width of 22.25 m is enlarged above river piers by observatory platforms to the total width of 33.25 m. Old piers 2, 5, 6, 7 dated from 1890 have been reconstructed. They are formed by original stone masonry walls with concrete core. Piers 3 and 4 were completely demolished and have been replaced by a new pier 34. The superstructure was incrementally launched into its final position supported by piers and a temporary floating support which was used for the main spans of 106.68 and 137.16 m in the Danube River. The movement of the floating support was provided by the launched bridge. An interaction between the bridge and the floating support was taken into account in the analysis and is described in the article. During the launching, both the bridge and the floating support were carefully monitored. A comparison of theoretical assumptions and measured values are presented in the paper.