The New Bridge Rolls Up Readily

10.10.2016

It was started in one piece and only had to be assembled: The new pedestrian and bicycle bridge in the west of the Bernese municipality of Lyss. The bridge transport was possible because the new bridge is made of wood and has a low dead weight.

The Bernese community of Lyss, not far from Lake Biel, is truly a bridge village despite its modest size: there are just over fifty bridges in the village that lead over the old Aare or the Lyssbach. There are so many crossings on Lyss municipal soil that both an inventory and a status report of the older bridges had to be made in recent years. 

It turned out that the bridge at the Grien sports centre, over which one comes from Lyss via the old Aare to the local recreation area, is in bad condition. It turned out that the bridge at the Grien sports centre, over which one comes from Lyss via the old Aare river, had reached the end of its service life and urgently needed to be replaced. It was found, for example, that the wooden components close to the water were affected by decay.

New Bridge also has a place for Cyclists 

The renewal of the bridge in Lyss was used as an opportunity to make it passable not only for pedestrians but also for bicycles. The building had to be wider than the existing one so that cyclists could cross safely. At the same time, the abutments of the old bridge were to be used to save costs. Both concerns could be implemented because the new wooden bridge is relatively light in relation to its size.

Transported on site in one piece 

The low dead weight also made it possible for the 17-meter-long bridge to be built completely in the carpentry shop and transported almost ready to use on site. In the old Aare, the bridge was lifted in one piece onto the reinforced foundations and only had to be fixed.   

More details about the new bridge in Lyss can be found here.