Itz Valley Autobahn Bridge (Coburg)


The Itz Valley Autobahn Bridge is a twin Autobahn bridge carrying the Autobahn A73 across the Itz Valley directly to the south of Autobahn Junction 9, and close to Coburg on the northern edge of Bavaria in Germany. The Autobahn bridge, which has an approximately north-south axis, has been built approximately 25 meters to the west of the Itz Valley Railway Bridge. However, whereas the Autobahn bridge has been in use since 2007, the railway bridge has been unused since its completion in 2005 because the high speed line of which the railway bridge is part, though started in 1996, has been deprioritised and is not expected to be completed for some time.
Constructed between 2004 and 2007 for a total cost of around €31.5 million, the Autobahn bridge is constructed of pre-stressed steel-concrete box girder sections. It is the longest bridge on the Autobahn A73, having a total length of and a maximum height above the valley floor of.

Groundwork and substructure

The abutments and pillars supporting the bridge are themselves supported by :de:Pfahlgründung|piles each of which has a diameter of and a depth of between and

Superstructure

The bridge comprises two carriageways each of which as its own concrete pillars and each of which is constructed as a :de:Durchlaufträger|continuous beam with a hollow box-section with a constant height of. The concrete beams incorporate 22 internal and 4 external steel :de:Spannstahl|reinforcement tendon-supports.
The overall length between abutments is. The total width of the two carriageways from one side to the other is, but that includes a gap between the two parallel bridges which is wide.