Humboldthafen Bridge, Berlin Central Station

In the vicinity of the new central station in Berlin, four long-distance tracks and two rapid-transit (S-Bahn) tracks needed to be carried for a kilometre on a viaduct at a height of about 10m.

As the viaduct is an exposed position in the centre of Berlin, what was wanted was a viaduct of minimum height that blocked the view as little as possible. This was achieved with close support spacing of up to 25m, which permitted a superstructure height of 1.70m. The slender steel supports are attached firmly to the superstructure, and with their deformability permit a bearingless design. In the Humboldthafen area, the bridge is carried on tubular steel arches with spans of up to 60m constructed of seamless, thick-walled tubes.

The special feature of the ca. 250m-long bridge are the trumpet-shaped widenings from east to west and the cross-sections of the loadbearing structures consist of three-centred arched cantilevers.