The Küstrin-Kietz Rail Crossing on the German/Polish border, the world’s first rail bridge to use carbon fiber as a load-bearing material, has reached completion. The bridge revives the once famous Berlin-Königsberg-Eydtkuhnen rail line, breathing new life to an important pre-Cold-War trade corridor and serving as a symbol of European cooperation between Germany and Poland.
The design concept for the new replacement bridge emerged from a two-stage international design competition, which was secured by civil engineer Schüßler-Plan Berlin and international bridge design practice Knight Architects. The project’s general planning services were provided by Schüßler-Plan, with Knight Architects overseeing the architectural concept development throughout design and planning application. In addition, structural engineer sbp developed the structural design of the network arch bridge that followed the competition-winning concept, but carbon cables were used instead of the ori