The technical feats of the Chain Bridge

  • 2024. June 28.

28 February 2013.

The Chain Bridge of Budapest was the technical pinnacle of its time. There was no comparable investment, either technically or financially, in the Habsburg Empire. Apart from the narrow section of the river above Regensburg, it was the first permanent Danube bridge, as even Vienna did not have a permanent crossing at the time. Building a bridge over a river with such a huge runoff raised an extreme challenge. Four circular dams were erected to build the two embankment and two riverbed piers, driving in a total of 6,000 piles, each about 20 metres long. It was the largest chain bridge and the second largest suspension bridge in the world at the time. The steam engine that lifted the chains into place was specially designed for the purpose, and divers in state-of-the-art suits were employed to inspect the piles underwater.

Read about the technological, financial and political background to the groundbreaking and construction of the Chain Bridge here.

Original drawing of the assembly of the links and their assembly on the pillars
Divers from England checked the underwater condition of the piles. The breathing wetsuit was a completely new invention
Pile drivers. From a height of four metres, the one-and-a-half-tonne stone was dropped onto the pile, 400 times per pile.
A riverbed enclosure. Earth was brought between two rows of piles and water was pumped out from the middle.
The chain, laid on the working bridge, was hoisted to the top of the pillar with pulleys and a steam engine
Georgius Sina, a greekified Romanian banker from Vienna who financed two-thirds of the bridge’s cost from his private fortune

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common past: knowledge to dispel historical misconceptions – supporting the work of Slovak and Hungarian history teachers through print and online publications, professional conferences. A project of the Association of History Teachers and the Hungarian-language newspaper of the Denník N news portal. (2023-2-HU01-KA210-SCH-000169882)

Funded by the European Union. The information and statements contained herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the European Union or the Tempus Public Foundation. Neither the European Union nor the funding authority can be held responsible for them.

 

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