Construction costs for the Sleeping Beauty Bridge in Hanover Linden doubled
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Construction costs for Sleeping Beauty Bridge double to 11 million euros
Renovation: The old Sleeping Beauty Bridge will be replaced by a new construction from summer 2023.
© Source: Samantha Franson
Hanover. With the Sleeping Beauty Bridge between Linden and Nordstadt, one of the most important bridges for pedestrians and cyclists in Hanover’s transport network will be renewed in the summer of 2023 – and the costs for the construction project will explode. According to the city of Hanover, the expenditure for demolition and new construction will increase from 6 to 11.5 million euros. “That surprised us badly,” said a city employee recently when presenting the plans to the Linden-Limmer district council. The district council and green-red in the council would like the bridge to be widened – which will cost another 700,000 euros.
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7000 cyclists daily on the bridge
The bridge over the Leine is showing its age and, according to the city, needs to be renewed. Cracks and concrete damage were noticed during an inspection of the building in 2018. Around 7,000 cyclists use the bridge every day, as a current census by the city showed last summer. The Sleeping Beauty Bridge is also a meeting point for residents of the district, especially in the summer months.
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According to the city, there are several reasons why construction costs have now doubled. On the one hand, the demolition of the old bridge and the moving of the new construction to the foundations of the old bridge turned out to be much more complicated – and therefore more expensive – than planned, according to the administration. The new bridge will initially be erected parallel to the old structure. The city then has the old bridge demolished so that the new structure can be lifted into the anchorages of the old bridge. The advantage: Pedestrians and cyclists can cross the line almost during the entire construction period. The connection is cut for only one to one and a half months.
Meeting place: The Sleeping Beauty Bridge is not only a highly frequented connection between Linden and Nordstadt, but also a party hotspot.
© Source: Christian Behrens
The district council and the green-red council want a wider bike lane
Another cost driver is the width of the bridge. The urban planners want to extend the bridge from the current eight meters to eleven meters. 4.50 meters each are then available for both pedestrians and cyclists. With this width, the city meets the wishes of residents of the municipality. “Actually, a width of only four meters would be legally required – with up to 10,000 cyclists a day,” says the city employee in the district council.
That’s still not enough for the district council. He has advocated expanding the width of the cycle path to at least five meters. As bicycle traffic will continue to increase, the bridge had to offer sufficient space for the years to come. Green-Red in the council took up the ball and recently decided on an extension in the building committee.
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New building: This is what the new Sleeping Beauty Bridge should look like.
© Source: Marx Krontal Partner/Nu_Agence d’Architecture & Bureau d’Ingénierie
The SPD is struggling with the desire for even more space for cyclists on the bridge. The wider the bridge, the more it invites you to celebrate, says SPD faction leader Lars Kelich. “The balance of interests between local residents and people who meet on the bridge must be preserved,” he says. In fact, residents had complained about noise and garbage on the bridge in the summer.
City will install more trash cans
The city will install several rubbish bins on the new Sleeping Beauty Bridge. A box-shaped bench in the middle of the bridge runs the length of the structure and is intended to invite people to linger. The bench also separates the footpath from the cyclist lane. Construction is scheduled to begin in July 2023 and everything should be finished in 2025. The cycle paths on the banks of the Leine will remain closed during the 18-month construction period.