Rügen Bridge

Rügen Bridge Rügenbrücke
New Rügen Bridge and the old drawbridge
Official name	2. Strelasundquerung
Carries	Bundesstraße 96 E22
Crosses	Strelasund
Locale	Stralsund and Rügen Island, Germany
Designer	André Keipke
Design	continuous pre-stressed concrete cable-stayed bridge
Material	Steel, concrete
Total length	2,831 metres (9,288 ft)
Width	3 traffic lanes
Height	126 metres (413 ft)
Longest span	198 metres (650 ft)
Piers in water	19
Clearance below	42 metres (138 ft)
Construction begin	August 31, 2004
Construction end	October 20, 2007
Opened	October 22, 2007
Toll	None
Daily traffic	23,000
Coordinates	54°18′45″N 13°06′51″E

The Rügen Bridge (German: Rügenbrücke) is a pre-stressed concrete cable-stayed bridge that spans the Strelasund between the German City of Stralsund and Rügen Island, Germany. The bridge was built to replace the aging Rügendamm, which will remain in service to provide a rail link and serve local traffic to Dänholm island.

The Rügendamm ("Rügen Embankment") is the name of the original road connecting Rügen Island with the City of Stralsund on the mainland of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The road was built in the 1930s and opened in October 1936. The Rügendamm consists of two parts:

• Strelasund Bridge is a 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long bridge and causeway spanning the Strelasund; its length is 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) and
• Ziegelgraben Bridge, a bascule bridge over the Ziegelgraben. This bridge opens several times a day to allow for the passage of large ships. Prior to the construction of the new Rügen Bridge, the drawbridge bridge was a source of major traffic congestion.

The Rügendamm provides the only road and rail access to Dänholm island.

In 2004, construction of a new bridge, called the 2nd Strelasund Crossing (2. Strelasundquerung), commenced. German Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the new bridge on 20 October 2007. The name of this new bridge is the Rügen Bridge (Rügenbrücke). The rugen bridge is a one tower suspension bridge that has nineteen piers holding it up from the water. The connection has a length of 4.1 kilometres (2.5 mi), the new bridge is 2,831 metres (9,288 ft) long and the centre pylon is 128 metres (420 ft) tall. The new bridge crosses but does not provide access to Dänholm island.