Pedestrian and Cyclepath

The pedestrian and cycle bridge in Schwerin is the first public bridge of this size in Germany in which the material GRP, fibre-glass reinforced plastics, has been used. The bridge was built as a pilot project on behalf of the German federation. The two-span superstructure consisting of fibre-glass reinforced polyester resin has been designed as an asymmetric cable-stayed trough-bridge. The 21m-high pylon comprises a pure steel construction and forms the centre support of the structure. The superstructure solely consists of pultruded GRP-sections, as their appearance resembles rolled-steel sections. They are assembled to principal girders by bolt-locked adhesive joints. To enhance the durability of the GRP-superstructure the pultrusion-sections were manufactured with an effective UV-protective membrane as surface layer. The most important criterion for using GRP is the light dead-load of the material and its resistance to corrosion, as well as the low maintenance and upkeeping costs involved.