Description of the attraction
The Adolphe Bridge, or New Bridge, is the famous arched bridge over the Petrus River in the city of Luxembourg. The bridge connects the Upper and Lower Towns and is a national symbol as well as one of the main tourist attractions in the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The bridge was built during the reign of the Grand Duke Adolf (1890-1905) and it was in his honor that it got its name.
In 1867, after the signing of the London Treaty, most of Luxembourg's fortifications were destroyed, and the city began to rapidly expand its borders. Most of the development was carried out south of Haute Ville (Upper Town) and quickly covered the opposite bank of the Petrus River, where by that time the Luxembourg railway station already existed. The only link between the two banks was the old viaduct, the throughput of which, given its width of only 5.5 m, was extremely small and in 1896 the city authorities decided to build a new bridge. The chief engineer of the project was the Luxembourger Rodange, who also determined the location of the future bridge. Nevertheless, such a large-scale structure still required some experience in the field of bridge construction, and a high-class French specialist Paul Sejourne was invited to help Rodange, who, on the whole, although he approved the original project of the Luxembourgian, made a number of significant changes.
The construction of the bridge began in July 1900, and three years later its grand opening took place. At the time of its construction, the Adolf Bridge became the largest arched bridge in the world. In total, the length of the bridge was 153 m, while the length of the largest central arch was about 85 m, and the maximum height of the bridge was 42 m. The bridge was erected from sandstone using reinforced concrete structures.
