What could it look like, the new Elbe crossing near Dresden's Ostragehege as a bicycle and sidewalk bridge?

Over the past four months, 38 students from four different universities (TU Berlin, BTU Cottbus, HTW Dresden, TU Dresden) have devoted themselves to this question. The task of a student competition was to design a pedestrian and bicycle bridge from Dresden's Ostragehege to the opposite side of the Elbe. As this area is under nature conservation and flooded, the students had to ensure that the construction method was environmentally friendly. In addition, they had to ensure a sensible connection to the existing road network and public transport.

The result is twelve high-quality designs that can be seen as an extension of the existing planning ideas. On Thursday, August 11, 2022, a jury of six selected the winning design. A team from the Technical University of Dresden prevailed, which envisages a circular ring girder suspended on one side for this location. The jury emphasized the architectural quality of the structure, which represents an enrichment for the location and significantly increases mobility for pedestrians and cyclists through the clever connection to the Pieschener Ufer. Second and third place went to designs by the Technical University of Berlin, which envisage a two- and single-span cable-stayed bridge to cross the Elbe.

The winners can now look forward to a trip to a European conference in their field. Second and third place received prize money of €500 and €200 respectively. In addition, two special prizes of €150 each were awarded to students of BTU Cott-bus and TU Dresden for particularly successful bridge models. The cash prizes were kindly sponsored by the engineering firm MKP. In addition, all participants can look forward to the book "Der Turm und die Brü-cke" (The Tower and the Bridge), which deals with the art of civil engineering (structural art) and is provided free of charge by Ernst & Sohn Verlag. The official award ceremony, at which the winning designs will be presented by the students, is expected to take place in October.

The designs as well as the bridge models can be viewed from August 15, 2022 to August 26 at the City Hall of Dresden (Golden Gate) during regular opening hours.

The jury was composed as follows:

• Stephan Kühn, Mayor of the City of Dresden
• Stephanie Mau, City of Dresden, Office for Urban Planning and Mobility
• Sabine Göbel, City of Dresden, Department of Roads and Civil Engineering
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Steffen Marx, TU Dresden, Institute for Solid Construction
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Volker Schmid, TU Berlin, Design and Construction - Composite Structures
• Hendrik Lindner, BTU Cottbus, Department of Structural Engineering

© Max Herbers

Background

The Transport Development Plan 2025+ of the state capital Dresden envisages a new Elbe crossing in the west of the city. As a replacement for the ferry connection from the Ostra peninsula to the Ball- und Brauhaus Watzke, which was discontinued in 1996, the Elbe is to be spanned by a foot and cycle path bridge. This is intended to revitalize the flow of visitors between the Altpieschen district on the right bank of the Elbe and the Ostra area with its cultural, trade fair and sports facilities. The aim of the student competition was to design a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists only. The structure should be designed to be efficient and resource-saving and also convince in technical, design and economic terms. In addition to the Institute for Solid Construction at the TU Dresden, the DFG Collaborative Research Center/Transregio 280 "Design Strategies for Material-Minimized Carbon-Bond Structures - Foundations for a New Way of Building" is one of the sponsors of the competition. Scientists from the TU Dresden, the IPF Dresden and the RWTH Aachen are researching new design strategies for carbon concrete.