viaduc de grandfey & maillart extended . . .

the grandfey viaduct is on the swiss federal railways (sbb cff ffs) line from fribourg to bern, switzerland. grandfey is one of the largest bridges in switzerland. in 1856, the then lausanne fribourg bern railway company commissioned engineer leopold blotnitzki to carry out studies for this most complex construction project in its network. built from 1857 to 1862, the bridge consisted of six vertical lattice trusses which are supported by large stone pillars, carrying a lattice girder supporting the superstructure of the rail tracks. the five central spans were each 48.75 m long and the side spans were 43.30 m long. inside the truss there was a lane for pedestrians and small carts. thus the grandfey viaduct created a new route for rail transport over the long and impassable gorge of the saane river . . .

the original bridge had to be strengthened to carry heavier, faster locomotives and train compositions in conjunction with the electrification of the swiss federal railways (sbb cff ffs) system. following principles developed by the sbb cff ffs bridge construction department, the grandfey viaduct was completely rebuilt between 1925 and 1927. robert maillart (1872-1940), the pioneer of rather large concrete structures in switzerland, was retained as an advisory engineer on the new bridge’s design. the first bridge from 1862 of iron trusses by blotnitzki was completely enclosed in concrete by the new maillart design of 1927 . . .

in 1988, richard serra executed a site specific commission called: maillart extended

more about the swiss engineer, robert maillart . . .

more information about maillart extended . . .

& more information about maillart extended . . .