Süderelbebrücke in Hamburg

The new ''Süderelbebrücke'' Southern Elbe bridge is 613 m long and 35 m wide and has a total bridge area of F = 21,455 m2. It is designed as an asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge with one pylon. The essential support elements of the bridge are the piers, the bridge superstructure,  cables cable-stays and the pylon.

The static spans amount 68 + 355 + 72 + 64 + 54 = 613 m. The first 68 m long span is not supported by cable-stays. It serves as a continuous beam extension for the reduction of the deflections and rotations of the superstructure at the 355 m long main span. The back span of the cable-stayed bridge is divided into three structural spans. This area of the superstructure is already in the curved road geometry. The superstructure in the first field and the main span is made of steel, in the back span the superstructure is made of concrete and acts as a counterweight for the lighter but longer main span.

The key bearing and design element of the bridge is the 200 m high H-shaped inclined pylon. The tilt of the pylon to the outside allows the curved road geometry for this structural type of a bridge and leads to the additional stability of the superstructure in the transverse direction. Overall, the bridge has 2 x 19 = 38 pairs of stay cables that transfer the weight and expense of the main span over the pylon into the back span. The size of the stays changes from 37 to 55 strands, having lengths between 94 m and 360 m.
The geometry of the pylon and the curvature in the back span are a unique and a special design solution for an asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge of this size.

To participate in the project Ponting also invited Martin Steinkuhler (construction and bridge manegement), Peter Gabrijelčič (lanscape and architecture) and Lineal GmbH (road design).