page_title: Göltzsch Viaduct
section_title: History and construction
hierarchical_section_title: Göltzsch Viaduct / History and construction
caption_attribution_description: English: This image shows a size comparison between the Göltzschtal bridge and a car. Deutsch: Dieses Bild zeigt einen Größenvergleich der Göltzschtalbrücke mit einem Auto. Camera data Camera Nikon Coolpix 2000 Lens on-board Focal length (35mm equivalent) 38 mm Aperture f/2.8 Exposure time 1/180 s Sensivity ISO 50
context_page_description: The Göltzsch Viaduct is a railway bridge in Germany. It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world. It spans the valley of the Göltzsch River between Mylau and Netzschkau, around 4 kilometres west of Reichenbach im Vogtland in the German Free State of Saxony.
  It was built between 1846 and 1851 as part of the railway between Saxony and Bavaria. It is currently part of the Leipzig–Hof line, near the Netzschkau station. About 10 kilometres south, the smaller Elster Viaduct was built for the same line and is quite similar to the Göltzsch Viaduct.
  Göltzsch Viaduct is also the name of a much smaller viaduct built in 1938 where Bundesautobahn 72 crosses the Göltzsch River. It sits about 10 km due southeast near the village of Weissensand.
  Göltzsch Viaduct was also the name of a terminus opened in 1895 on the Reichenbach–Göltzsch Viaduct railway in the Göltzsch valley below the railway bridge. From here, trains departed to the central station of Reichenbach im Vogtland and to Lengenfeld.
context_section_description: One of the greatest challenges in constructing a railway between Saxony and Bavaria was how to bridge the Göltzsch valley. Hoping to find a financially feasible construction plan, the Saxon-Bavarian Railway Company announced a contest on 27 January 1845 in all major German magazines with prize money of 1000 Thalers. However, none of the 81 submissions could prove by means of structural analysis that it would be able to withstand the stresses of rail traffic on the bridge. The prize money was eventually divided among four contestants, but none of their designs were actually realized.
  The chairman of the jury, professor Johann Andreas Schubert subsequently designed a bridge himself, making use of his recently attained knowledge of structural analysis, and letting himself be inspired by the submitted designs and the viaduct in Leubnitz (Werdau), which was finished in the summer of 1845, making it the first bridge in the world to be subjected to a full structural analysis. It was planned to build the bridge mainly out of bricks, at the time a highly unusual choice, because of the abundance of loam in the vicinity, which allowed for rapid and cost-efficient production of bricks. Granite was to be used only for certain crucial segments.
  The first stone was laid on 31 May 1846. The plans were revised just once after construction began, when certain technical difficulties arose. For instance, the foundation on which the bridge was to be built turned out to be less firm than previously assumed. Chief engineer Robert Wilke solved this by replacing the arches in the middle with one great central arch, which only added to the impressiveness of this edifice.
  The Göltzsch Viaduct was an extraordinarily large endeavor for its time. Each day, the nearly 20 brickyards along the railway line would produce 50,000 bricks with the unusual dimensions of 28×14×6.5 centimetres (11.0×5.5×2.6 in). The scaffolding was custom-made for each arch, totalling 23,000 tree trunks, although other sources even speak of 230,000 trunks. In total, 1,736 construction workers built the bridge, with 31 on-site fatalities. When the bridge was completed and inaugurated on 15 July 1851, it was world's tallest railway bridge. Today, it still holds the record for largest brick bridge in the world.
caption: Size of the bridge compared to a car
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