- Rügendamm
Rügendamm is the name of a road and rail bridge connecting the German island
Rügen with the city ofStralsund on the mainland of the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.The Bridge was built in the 1930s and opened in October 1936.
The Rügendamm consists of three parts:
* "Strelasundbrücke" is the part which is actually a bridge over theStrelasund ; its length is 1.8 km
* Road and a rail track on the isleDänholm , connecting the two bridges and
* "Ziegelgrabenbrücke", a bascule bridge over theZiegelgraben . This bridge was opened three times a day to allow a passage for taller ships, what lead to huge traffic jams.Thus in 2004, building of a new bridge was started, called the "2nd Strelasundquerung". The new bridge has been opened on October 20th, 2007, by the German chancellor Angela Merkel. The name of this new bridge is "Rügenbrücke" ("Rügen bridge"). The connection has a length of 4.1 km, the new bridge is 2831 meters long and the center pylon is 128 meters high.
External links
* [http://ruegenbruecke.com/englisch.htm Official Rügenbrücke website]
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