The New Gänstor Bridge

The new Gänstor Bridge is a single-span integral composite rigid frame structure over the Danube that will replace the old bridge designed by Ulrich Finsterwalder. With a span of 86.50 m, it is one of the longest rigid frame structures in Germany. It connects the cities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm and will be able to accommodate not only car, bicycle and pedestrian traffic, but also a tram. The design is the result of a design competition announced in 2019/2020. Based on the old prestressed concrete bridge, which is an outstanding example of engineering from the early 1950s, the design impresses with its slim appearance. This slenderness is achieved, among other things, by the tapering of the superstructure from the frame corner to the middle of the bridge and by the cross-sectional height decreasing from the middle of the roadway to the outer edge. The bridge consists of two substructures. The superstructure of each substructure consists of a 5-cell hollow box made of steel and a 25 cm thick reinforced concrete slab. The superstructure is fixed into the deep-founded abutments. Both the dismantling of the existing structure and the construction of the new structure are very demanding due to the inner-city and environmental constraints. In the spirit of sustainability, the existing pillar foundations of a previous structure from 1912 will be used to demolish the existing structure and assemble the new superstructure.