Elisabeth Bridge (Budapest): Difference between revisions

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Erzsébet híd, Erzsébet Bridge or Elisabeth Bridge is the second newest bridge and one of the most elegant ones of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube, the bridge spanning only 290 m. Is is named after Queen Elisabeth, a popular queen and empress of Austria-Hungary, who was tragically assassinated. Today, her large bronze statue sits by the bridge's Buda side connection in the middle of a small garden.

Its two ends are

Március 15. tér (with the oldest church in Pest, Inner City Parish Church, built in the XIII century) and the famous Mátyás Pince restaurant
Döbrentei tér in Buda with the monument of Saint Gellert on the Gellért Hill and the Rác Baths and Rudas Baths nearby. A luxury spa hotel is currently being built in the area.

The original permanent crossing, a decorative chain bridge, was built between 1897 and 1903, amid a corruption scandal. The Buda end of Erzsébet bridge runs directly into the massive foot of Gellért Hill, necessitating a complicated arrangement of roads to connect to the bridge. The bridge was designed in such a way because a wealthy nobleman, who sat on the City Council at the time owned the particular area of the riverbank. He wanted to make a fortune by selling the piece of land for bridge constructon purposes, bribing the other councilmen and engineers on purpose. He managed to sell the land at greatly inflated prices. In the era of horse drawn carts the geometry issue was not considered significant and the resulting cost overruns were covered up, therefore no prosecution took place. In recent decades, many motorists have been permanently injured or killed in the sharp turn that immediately follows the bridgehead. After a terrible accident in 2004, which killed a family, a speed limit of 40 km/h was posted for the west-bound lanes.

The original Erzsébet híd was blown up at the end of World War II by retreating Wehrmacht sappers. This is the only bridge in Budapest which could not be rebuilt in its original form. Pictures and some salvaged elements from the old bridge can be seen on the grass in front of the Museum of Transport in City Park.

The currently standing slender white cable bridge was built in the very same location between 1961-1964, because the socialist country could not afford to construct entirely new foundations for the bridge. The main spar cables of the bridge are hexagonal in cross section, composed of thousands of elementary steel wires of seven different diameter, partly because early computers were unable to provide solution for a circular cross section main cable batch.

The novel design, planned by Pál Sávoly, was a first in Central Europe and not without weaknesses. Tram traffic and its heavy tracks had to be removed from the bidge in 1973 after signs of cracks appreared in the structure. The 2x3 lane Erzsébet bridge is relatively well maintained because it is part of the route where foreign dignitaries are being taken from Ferihegy Airport to the government quarter.

External links

(The below three are from Budapest Tourism Office)

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 [[Image:Budapest from Gellert Hill.jpg|thumb|300px|Erzsébet híd in the foreground, seen from [[Gellérthegy|Gellért Hill]]]]
-'''Erzsébet híd''', '''Erzsébet Bridge''' or '''Elisabeth Bridge''' is the second newest bridge and one of the most elegant ones of [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]], connecting [[Buda]] and [[Pest (city)|Pest]] across the [[Danube|River Danube]]. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube, the bridge spanning only [[1 E2 m|290 m]]. Is is named after [[Elisabeth of Bavaria|Queen Elisabeth]], a popular queen of [[Austria-Hungary]].
+'''Erzsébet híd''', '''Erzsébet Bridge''' or '''Elisabeth Bridge''' is the second newest bridge and one of the most elegant ones of [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]], connecting [[Buda]] and [[Pest (city)|Pest]] across the [[Danube|River Danube]]. It is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube, the bridge spanning only [[1 E2 m|290 m]]. Is is named after [[Elisabeth of Bavaria|Queen Elisabeth]], a popular queen and empress of [[Austria-Hungary]], who was tragically assassinated. Today, her large [[bronze statue]] sits by the bridge's Buda side connection in the middle of a small garden.
 Its two ends are
-* Március 15. tér (with the oldest church in Pest, Inner City Parish Church, built in the XIII century) and
+* Március 15. tér (with the oldest church in Pest, Inner City Parish Church, built in the XIII century) and the famous Mátyás Pince restaurant
-* Döbrentei tér (with a sculpture of Queen Elisabeth, a monument of [[Gerard Sagredo|Saint Gellert]] overhead on [[Gellért Hill]] and [[Rác Baths]] and [[Rudas Baths]] nearby).
+* Döbrentei tér in Buda with the monument of [[Gerard Sagredo|Saint Gellert]] on the [[Gellért Hill]] and the [[Rác Baths]] and [[Rudas Baths]] nearby. A luxury [[spa]] hotel is currently being built in the area.
+The original permanent crossing, a decorative [[chain bridge]], was built between [[1897]] and [[1903]], amid a corruption scandal. The Buda end of Erzsébet bridge runs directly into the massive foot of Gellért Hill, necessitating a complicated arrangement of roads to connect to the bridge. The bridge was designed in such a way because a wealthy nobleman, who sat on the City Council at the time owned the particular area of the riverbank. He wanted to make a fortune by selling the piece of land for bridge constructon purposes, bribing the other councilmen and engineers on purpose. He managed to sell the land at greatly inflated prices. In the era of horse drawn carts the geometry issue was not considered significant and the resulting cost overruns were covered up, therefore no prosecution took place. In recent decades, many motorists have been permanently injured or killed in the sharp turn that immediately follows the bridgehead. After a terrible accident in 2004, which killed a family, a [[speed limit]] of 40 km/h was posted for the west-bound lanes.
-Its original version was built between 1897 and 1903, but it was destroyed in World War II. This is the only bridge in Budapest which was not rebuilt in its original form. Its picture and some of its preserved elements can be seen in and before the Museum of Transport in [[City Park (Budapest)|City Park]]. The current bridge was built between 1961-[[1964]], planned by Pál Sávoly.
+The original Erzsébet híd was blown up at the end of World War II by retreating Wehrmacht sappers. This is the only bridge in Budapest which could not be rebuilt in its original form. Pictures and some salvaged elements from the old bridge can be seen on the grass in front of the Museum of Transport in [[City Park (Budapest)|City Park]].
+The currently standing slender white [[cable bridge]] was built in the very same location between [[1961]]-[[1964]], because the socialist country could not afford to construct entirely new foundations for the bridge. The main spar cables of the bridge are [[hexagonal]] in cross section, composed of thousands of elementary steel wires of seven different diameter, partly because early computers were unable to provide solution for a circular cross section main cable batch.
+The novel design, planned by Pál Sávoly, was a first in Central Europe and not without weaknesses. Tram traffic and its heavy tracks had to be removed from the bidge in [[1973]] after signs of cracks appreared in the structure. The 2x3 lane Erzsébet bridge is relatively well maintained because it is part of the route where foreign dignitaries are being taken from [[Ferihegy Airport]] to the government quarter.
 ==See also==