Magdeburg Water Bridge, A River Over a River

[Ray S S]

Greetings, I'll bet you have never seen a river over a river.
Even after you see it, it is still hard to believe.

The following is from an email.

The Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany. What a feat!

THIS IS ENGINEERING.

This is the Channel-bridge over the River Elba and joins the former East and West
Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg,
near Berlin. The photos were taken on the day of Inauguration.

Sat. April 23, 2011

The incredible Magdeburg Water Bridge is a Navigable aqueduct in Germany that
connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittelland Canal, and allows ships to cross over
the Elbe River...At 918 meters, it is the longest navigable aqueduct in the world.

The Elbe-Havel and Mittelland Canals had previously met near Magdeburg, but on
opposite sides of the Elbe. Ships moving between the two had to make a 12-kilo-
meter detour, decending from the Mattelland Canal, through the Rothensee boat
lift into the Elbe, then sailing downstream on the river, before entering the Elbe-
Havel Canal through Niegripp Lock. Low water levels in the Elbe often prevented
fully laden barges from making this crossing, requiring time-consuming off loading
of cargo.

To those who enjoy engineering projects, here is a puzzle for you armchair engineers..
and psysicists....

Question:

Did this bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and
barge traffic, or just the weight of the water?

Answer:

It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of the water.

Why?

A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship;
regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded.

Construct of the water link was started as early as the 1930"s, but due to World
War II and subsequent division of Germany, the work remained suspended till
1997. The aquiduct was finally completed and opened to the public in 2003.

[Felinepeachy]

Well there's never a pot hole to repair LOL

[NaturalJWL]

Ray, you always come up with some interesting post.

Good to see you back posting.

[Ray S S]

Yup, Peachy, any pothole that gets started is automatically instantly refilled.

NaturalJWL I appreciate your compliment. Thank you very much.

You are welcome, Tee. I am glad you all liked it.

Thanks to all of you for looking and your replies.

Ray

[FarmerChick]

very cool pics

[Ray S S]

Thanks, Farmer Chick.