History & Future

History of the bridge

Since its opening in 1906 the Wiehltalbahn  crosses the valley over the Denklingen railway bridge at 18.2 kilometres. The bridge’s primary construction material was mass concrete - "state-of-the-art" during the construction period - but shortly after its construction in 1905 reinforced concrete took over as a construction material.

Originally the bridge consisted of two concrete spans - the longer one had a length of 24.15 metres (roughly 26.5 yd) and the shorter one a length of 15.6 metres (17.1 yd).       The German army, on its retreat, blew up the smaller span in 1945.

Instead of reconstructing the original span a temporary steel bridge was fitted after the war and that is how we know the bridge today.

The future

On the reopening of the upper part of the Wiehltalbahn on 18th.April 2010 for the first time since the ending of  railway traffic in 1995 trains crossed the Denklingen Bridge again.

By its reconstruction the bridge has been prepared for permanently carrying the tourist magnet "Bergischger Löwe" hauled by steam locomotive "Waldbröl", as well as by freight trains - and for the future also, trains for public local transport.