Design of the New Northern Danube Railway Bridge in Budapest

The article aims to present the challenging design tasks of the reconstructed Northern Danube railway bridge in Budapest. Besides, it gives an overview of the extraordinary construction and replacement process that was carried out within 3 months in 2008. The bridge is located on the Budapest-Esztergom railway line of MÁV (Hungarian National Railways) that carries significant suburban traffic, therefore fast constructability was just as important design issue as load carrying capacity and travel comfort requirements. Meanwhile the design was also determined by cityscape and noise demands. The old temporary structure was removed and replaced by the new continuously supported 674.40 m long steel truss girder bridge in the summer of 2008. A special bearing system enabled the reinforced abutments to carry the increased horizontal loads induced on the continuous girder with the application of hydraulic shock transmission devices, whilst the old piers became released from the majority of horizontal effects. The contractor and the designer were both challenged by the available 3 months long period for the bridge replacement. 500 tons heavy prefabricated units had to be lifted by floating cranes to their position, while no disturbance of the shipping was allowed on the river. As the result of close cooperation between contractors, designers and the involved organizations such a bridge was given back to the traffic 8 years ago that absolutely satisfies all kind of modern demands.