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The structure awarded in the "Construction of the Year" Contest had been overhauled within the framework of the contract:

 

‘Design and execution of construction works involving modernization of E30 railway line on section Węgliniec – Legnica – bridge at km 37.221 of line 282 in BOLESŁAWIEC’

The project was entrusted to the Consortium in which PRKiI S.A was a Leader, and its Partners included:

Przedsiębiorstwo Budowlane FILAR Sp. z o.o. and Frenzel-Bau GmbH Plauen, from Germany

Mr. Janusz Kania was the construction site manager.

 

The bridge in Bolesławiec is the longest railway bridge in Poland – it is as much as 490 metres long, 8 metres wide and 26 metres high.

 

It was designed by architect Fryderyk Engelhardt Gansel, who was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle for that design. Gansel was inspired by Roman aqueducts, therefore the structure was built with the use of pale yellow limestone from the nearby quarry.

 

The construction of the bridge started in 1844 and took 2 years to complete. The project was spectacular for the time – it cost 400 thousand thalers, construction works were performed by more than 600 people, and another 3200 were indirectly involved in the construction.

 

The bridge was opened on 27 July 1846 – Prussian King Fryderyk Wilhelm IV was present at the opening ceremony. Thanks to that structure, Bolesławiec received a railway connection with Dresden and Breslau.

 

The magnificent structure survived in that form nearly 100 years – unfortunately in 1945 it sustained considerable damage from the retreating Germans.

 

Only 2 years later the bridge was reconstructed with the effort of new settlers coming to Bolesławiec, and in the years 1984-1985 the structure was electrified and the intertrack space widened.

 

The successive overhaul of the bridge was the modernisation which was awarded the title of “Construction of the Year 2009”, owing to which the original appearance of the structure was meticulously restored and the structure was simultaneously adapted to the E30 modernised railway line standards.

 

The works involved, among others, the demolition of the old deck and construction of the new one while maintaining all the hitherto existing architectural elements of the bridge bearing structure. A new innovative technology was applied by partial use of prefabrication. Owing to that method, it was possible to design and perform the works with maintaining their high pace and quality.

 

During the execution of the works prefabricated shuttering elements were used as well as prefabricated pavement caps together with the side wall of the ballast trough.

 

The works were conducted while maintaining the traffic on the adjacent track. It was possible thanks to the installation of a protective wall in the intertrack space and raising of the safety level through the introduction of state-of-the-art train approach early-warning system.

 

In the course of works execution it was necessary to overcome another obstacle which was the conducting of works over the river Bóbr, National Road No. 4 and Poviat Road No. 2320D while maintaining vehicular traffic.

 

On 10 October 2009, the unique "Viaduct Show: light, steam and sound" inaugurated the opening of the restored structure.

 

It is worth mentioning that the bridge in Bolesławiec is strategically located on Pan-European Transport Corridor III (E30 railway line) connecting Germany with Ukraine, and under the bridge the city ring-road and a local road are situated.

 

The bridge over the Bóbr river is an impressive structure and the most prominent landmark of Bolesławiec. Thanks to its modernisation the structure looks even better and may be an object of real pride.