Opening of the Hohensaaten road bridge on 27th May 2011

On 27^th May 2011, the replacement road bridge at Hohensaaten was officially opened to traffic. A speech on behalf the owner was given by the head of the office for new waterway construction in Berlin, Mr. Rolf Dietrich. Further speeches were given by Mr. Carsten Bock­hardt (Barnim rural district), Mr. Ralf Lehmann (Mayor of the town of Frei­en­wal­de) und Mr. Olaf Neumann (Site Manager, Schäfer Bauten GmbH).

The Hohensaaten road bridge is in the area of responsibility of the federal waterways and shipping authority (WSV). In north-east Brandenburg, it forms part of the local road connecting the neighboring communities of Hohensaaten and Hohenwutzen and crosses the Havel-Oder waterway (HOW) at km 92,016. The official opening also marked the internal transfer of responsibility for the structure to the waterways and shipping authority in Eberswalde, which was represented by its head of construction, Mr. Hans-Jürgen Heymann.

The original bridge, a pre-stressed concrete structure dating from the early 1960s, had to be demolished in 2007 because of serious deficiencies in the load-bearing capacity of the superstructure and inadequate warning behavior. The replacement bridge was planned and constructed within three years. The old beam structure supported by two piers in the river was replaced by a single-span suspended deck arch bridge spanning 86,20 m.

The Berlin office of KREBS+KIEFER GmbH was involved in the following areas of the project on behalf of the water construction authorities in Eberswalde and Berlin:

• Assessment of load-bearing capacity and study of the warning behavior of the existing structure
• Production of a demolition concept for the existing structure
• Preliminary and design planning for the replacement bridge
• Preparations for and support during contract awarding
• Construction management and construction supervision
• Checking of the execution documents
  (Checking engineer: Dr.-Ing. Hans-Gerd Lindlar)