The Welding of Steel Road Bridges in the Past and Today

Abstract

The article discusses the construction of Europe’s first welded bridge (over the river Słudwia in Maurzyce near Łowicz), design assumptions of the welded joints and the present condition of the welded joints made during the post-war repair of the bridge. For comparative purposes, the article presents today’s welded solutions used in the footbridges of Most Szczytnicki (Szczytnicki Bridge) on the Stara Odra river arm in Wrocław. In addition, the article contains information related to the welding-based repair (if any) of structures of old riveted bridge structures.