Red rust is long gone.
Reddening rusty joints once gave the flat, frequently flooded boardwalk over the Bille its name. Even in colonial times, the inhabitants of Hamburg built a trading ford on this site near to the port. In the early 20th century, factories and businesses located here: Hamburg’s industrial history was made! The bridge was repeatedly renewed, rebuilt and renovated.
Since the 1980s, the area around the Red Bridge mainly lay derelict. Now, following site remediation, it is once again a modern developed industrial area with excellent transport connections. A completely new structure has replaced the dilapidated old bridge which was only approved for car traffic. The new bridge is designed to carry heavy goods vehicles. It is now twice as wide and also has enough space for convenient pedestrian and cycle paths. The robust integral bridge does not need expansion joints and bridge bearings. Its unobtrusive bow shape has a span of 19 meters.
The exposed concrete of the bridge body is staggered from the edge with different shades of light colour. Only the abutments are covered with masonry, the dark colours of which advance into the river bank zones.
Finally, the red brick, the red-painted railings and their handrails made of shimmering reddish wood give the bridge a new explanation for its traditional name.
© fotograf-hamburg.de, BIN, Fa. Holst GmbH & Co. KG, BIN, BIN, fotograf-hamburg.de