It is one of the most valuable industrial monuments not only on the national scale, as it represents a certain bridge construction type and engineering solutions of the first half 20th century.

History

The bridge, which was made by Dittmar Wolfsohn & Co., based in Breslau, in collaboration with August Klönne company from Dortmund, was put into operation in 1927. It stretches over a port channel, in a place formerly occupied by older, wooden bridges, the earliest mention of which comes from 1743. The bridge was damaged in 1945 by the German troops and renovated in the years 1954-1956. At that time, a manual drive was replaced with an electric one. Another major renovation of the bridge took place in the years 1990-1992. New solutions that partially altered the silhouette of the building - the bridge was extended widthwise and upwards - were introduced while preserving the original general structural arrangement.

Description

The drawbridge is located over the port channel, along Wolności Avenue, in the south-western part of the town. It was designed as a single-span steel structure, with a roadway measuring 6 m in width, adjoining pavements measuring slightly more than 1 m in width, covered with a bitumen and resting on reinforced concrete abutments. The lever-operated hoist mechanism based on steel ropes wound and unwound on drums that are electrically powered or for manual operation and a counterweight consisting of concrete and steel blocks. The lifting mechanism is located in an engine room that is accessible by a steel ladder from the service platform.

The structure is accessible.

Compiled by Marta Kłaczkowska, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Zielona Góra, 16/05/2017

Bibliography

• Karta ewidencyjna, [Budynek zboru braci czeskich], oprac. Andrzejewski T., Zielona Góra 2003.
• Kowalski S., Zabytki architektury województwa lubuskiego, Zielona Góra 2010, s. 253.