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Swing BridgeThe construction of the revolving bridge in the 1850's was prompted by the building of the Mazurian canals and by development of steam navigation. The design of that first bridge was not flawless. The bridge had two wings, which would swing to the sides. On September 4th, 1859, when a heavy cart full of goods rolled onto it, the two ends of the bridge gave way and went down under the load. The unfortunate accident was caused by the fact that the two halves of the bridge had not been screwed together well enough. The mishap gave rise to the new technical concept of the bridge as we know it today, namely that it should have just one wing, revolving as a whole. In 1889, engineers from the company Bechelt C.O. Grundberg und Shel, seated in Grünberg (present-day Zielona Góra) built a 20 m long and 8 m wide movable bridge span with an ingenious gear mechanism that allow just one operator to open the waterway by swinging the 100 ton structure to the side. The design proved reliable and included many technical innovations, to the delight of the town's citizens and tourists. |