The 'Iron Bridge', Regensburg
The 'Iron Bridge' over the River Danube in Regensburg occupies an important position in the urban context, on a site adjacent to the historic 'Stone Bridge' and medieval gateway into the town. The contrasting building materials of stone and steel (the original iron bridge now no longer exists), the green riverside scenery and the old and new urban architecture together produce a distinctive picture. The new bridge takes the low arch profile of the solid old bridge and transposes it into a modern technological counterpart, a transparent filigree construction in steel resting on stone pillars. Steel is even evident on the upper surface of the bridge, where one edge of the longitudinal girder supporting the roadway juts out to form the kerbstone separating the road from the footpath and cycle way. The ends of the transverse girders support the bridge railings, leaving the ribbed structure of the carriageway slab clearly legible.
