Construction Site Update from the Pfaffendorf Rhine Bridge in Koblenz

Construction Site Update from the Pfaffendorf Rhine Bridge in Koblenz

After the steel components of the southeast side span were hoisted into place and welded, the side span—weighing approximately 1,000 tons—was moved from the northern axis to the southern axis of the side span and positioned there with precision.

The shift was carried out on specially constructed sliding tracks on the eastern pier and the eastern abutment. Strand hoisting systems were used. The associated strand hoists were anchored via solid support beams on the pier and the abutment.

This marks the achievement of another important milestone in the “Pfaffendorfer Bridge” construction project.

At the same time, the conditions for hoisting the final side span have been created. This northeast side span will be hoisted into place using a floating crane starting in late May 2026. To date, approximately 3,000 tons of the river bridge’s steel structure have been installed. Further work on the steel structure is expected to continue through the fall of this year. Concrete work on the deck slab will then begin.

#SteelConstruction #BridgeConstruction #PfaffendorferBridge #Koblenz #RhineBridge #CivilEngineering #Assembly

 

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New cable-stayed bridge for Deutsche Bahn in Bad Camberg

Donges moves new cable-stayed arch bridge into final position for Deutsche Bahn. Milestone reached in the infrastructure project in Bad Camberg.

 

On 31 March 2026, the new railway viaduct was successfully moved into its final position in Erbach (Bad Camberg).

The approximately 62.5 m long and 13.5 m wide arch-truss structure, with a total weight of around 800 tonnes, was constructed as part of the Bad Camberg–Erbach–Würges bypass. The installation took place during a temporary track closure in the early hours of the morning and was completed on schedule.

Using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), the fully pre-assembled bridge was picked up from the assembly site, hydraulically lifted and moved with millimetre precision over the abutments into its final position. The soft ground posed a particular challenge, which was addressed by using load-distributing steel plates along the route.

The successful implementation was only possible thanks to the close cooperation between the Donges SteelTec / Albert Weil consortium and the client, as well as the precise preparation of the installation process.

The steel structure consists of a total of 40 prefabricated individual components, which were manufactured at the Donges plant in Darmstadt and subsequently pre-assembled and welded on site.

Yet another fine example of precise engineering and coordinated construction processes in infrastructure engineering.

 

#archbridge #DeutscheBahn #DongesSteelTec #steelconstruction #bridgeconstruction #infrastructure #teamwork #consortium #badcamberg

 

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Opening of the new Elsen Bridge – a milestone for Berlin! ✨

Modern civil engineering, high-performance mobility and strong partnerships

 

On 13 March 2026, the new Elsen Bridge was officially opened by the Berlin Senate.
We at Donges SteelTec are proud to have delivered the new Elsen Bridge as part of our joint venture with Eurovia and VIA Structure.

As the lead partner responsible for steel construction, assembly and corrosion protection, as well as the assembly planning for the complex longitudinal shifts and the floating-in process, we played a key role in shaping one of Berlin’s most significant infrastructure projects to date.

🔩 Our contribution to the new Elsen Bridge:
• Workshop and assembly planning, as well as the fabrication of the entire steel structure weighing around 1,450 tonnes.
• Precise precision work under extremely demanding time and logistical constraints
• Close and collaborative coordination within the consortium
• On-time delivery despite challenging logistical conditions

The new Elsenbrücke not only connects Friedrichshain and Treptow, but also stands for modern engineering, efficient mobility and strong partnerships.

🙏 A big thank you goes to our entire team and to all our colleagues in the consortium. Together, we have shown that it is possible when expertise, precision and collaboration come together at the highest level.

#Elsenbrücke #Berlin #DongesSteelTec #SteelConstruction #BridgeConstruction #Infrastructure #Teamwork #Consortium #Eurovia #ViaStructure

 

 

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New railway bridge in Rüsselsheim am Main

Successful installation of the new railway viaduct in Rüsselsheim am Main

 

On 27 February 2026, the new railway viaduct was installed in Rüsselsheim am Main.

The two trough bridges, each approximately 25.00 m long and around 5.50 m wide, were transported from the manufacturing site in Darmstadt to the installation site on Bonner Straße during the night of 26 to 27 February 2026. The footway structures and the railings had already been pre-assembled at the factory, so that only the lifting of the structures was required on site.

The steel superstructures, each weighing approximately 90 tonnes, were moved into their final position using a project-specific assembly girder (auxiliary structure). The lifting was carried out using a mobile crane in a so-called single-lift procedure, during which the superstructures were set down onto the abutment benches manufactured by Adolf-Lupp GmbH.

Within around six hours, both trough structures were hoisted into place, aligned correctly and secured in their final position, allowing subsequent construction work to continue without delay.

Despite the confined space, the assembly team from Donges SteelTec GmbH succeeded in precisely positioning the steel superstructures. The existing torsion beams and the cable routes running beneath them posed a particular challenge, as they significantly restricted the available working space.

 

Donges SteelTec GmbH is delighted to continue driving forward the transport transition in infrastructure, both regionally and in the area surrounding our Darmstadt site, through smaller projects as well.

 

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Ahr Valley Railway

Great joy in the Ahr Valley – a return to normality.

After the flood disaster in 2021, large sections of the Ahr Valley Railway between Remagen and Ahrbrück were destroyed. After four years of intensive construction work, the Ahr Valley Railway resumed operations on 12 December. The local population is delighted about the reopening of this important railway line. Many people attended the official opening of the railway line and applauded as the first train set off.

‘We build for the Ahr Valley’ was our motto after Donges SteelTec was commissioned to manufacture and assemble nine railway bridges and two foot and cycle bridges. A total of 4,300 tonnes of steel were used in the steel trough bridges alone. Donges SteelTec’s scope of services also included workshop and assembly planning as well as all corrosion protection services, bearings, transition structures and railings.

We are delighted to have contributed to the reconstruction of the Ahr Valley and are convinced that the decision to build the new bridges in a sustainable steel construction represents an additional measure to increase resilience to possible future flooding.

A big thank you to all our employees who helped to complete this ambitious project on schedule.

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Elsen Bridge Berlin

Assembly work completed for the new north-western section of the Elsen Bridge in Berlin

An important stage in the construction of the new Elsen Bridge was successfully completed on 15 October. The central section of the bridge, which connects the Berlin districts of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and Treptow-Köpenick, was pre-assembled on the construction site, transported onto the pontoon with the aid of two SPMTs (Self-Propelled Modular Transporters) and then floated into its final position across the closed Spree river with great precision by our assembly team. The 400-tonne steel structure was then hoisted into position using strand jacks attached to the steel superstructures on the land side.

Donges SteelTec has been commissioned to manufacture, deliver and assemble the steel structure for the 155-metre-long bridge, which weighs a total of 1,500 tonnes. The steel parts were manufactured at our plant in Darmstadt and transported to Berlin by heavy-duty transporters. In the coming weeks, the central section will be aligned, welded and coated with corrosion protection. This will be followed by the remaining work and the connection of the roadway to the existing structure.

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BW3-1 Overfly

Donges SteelTec builds mega bridge at the Nuremberg-East motorway junction

 The 600-metre-long motorway bridge spans the Nuremberg-East junction in an arc. The so-called overfly is designed to allow motorists to practically fly over the A6/A9 junction. The bridge is intended to prevent traffic gridlock at this junction.

The 9,000-tonne steel structure is being pushed over the motorway. Our foreman Manfred Lind and his team pre-assembled the bridge piece by piece next to the motorway and then, with the help of the yellow front end, pushed it centimetre by centimetre over the motorway – while traffic continued to flow underneath the bridge. The final delicate moment for Lind and his team was lowering the bridge one metre to its final position. In the end, every millimetre counts. The gap between the bridge and the bearing on which it rests must be wafer-thin. ‘The steel bridge has to rest on a bearing because it moves. When it gets warm, it gets longer, and when it gets cold, it gets shorter,’ explains Manfred Lind. It took more than two years for the steel structure to reach this point.

As soon as the bridge is resting on the bearings, the concrete workers on the bridge will start concreting the roadway. The opening of the 65 million euro overfly is planned for early 2026.

Bayerischer Rundfunk has made an impressive film about this, which can be viewed here.

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Pfaffendorf Bridge

Steel girders weighing tonnes for the new Pfaffendorf Bridge in Koblenz lifted into place by floating crane

The new Pfaffendorf Bridge connects the city centre of Koblenz with the right bank of the Rhine. In mid-June, the first steel girders weighing several tonnes for the new Rhine bridge in the river section were lifted into place using a floating crane. The seven steel parts weighing up to 480 tonnes for the first of five construction phases were lifted into place by crane from a pontoon in the Rhine. Due to the low water level, the Rhine first had to be dredged deeper at the lifting point so that the pontoons could be moved safely for the 600 tonne crawler crane.

The steel girders were manufactured as individual parts weighing up to 90 tonnes at our plant in Darmstadt, then transported by heavy goods vehicle to Mannheim, where they were pre-assembled into large components and transported by ship down the Rhine from Mannheim’s Rheinau harbour to the construction site in Koblenz.

‘The good preparation of our bridge construction experts and the precision work of our technical office, production and assembly team made it possible to lift in this challenging bridge structure with millimetre precision,’ says Stephan Langer, Head of Bridge Construction at Donges SteelTec.

Once the first bridge components have been lifted into place on the castle side, further steel components will follow in autumn and winter 2025, including on the Pfaffendorf side. The concreting of the second river pier was already completed here last week. The bridge is scheduled for completion in 2029.

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A6 Grumbachtal Bridge

Grumbach Valley Bridge gap closure successfully completed

The steel assembly of the Grumbach Valley Bridge near Sankt Ingbert was successfully completed with the lifting of the last two sections of substructure 1.

The two box girder strands of the substructure comprise a total steel tonnage of approx. 2,400 tonnes. The last two sections were lifted into place from a crane position behind the abutment on the Saarbrücken side of the bridge structure. Using a 750 tonne crane, the two sections were lifted off the heavy-duty transporters, turned and then lifted into their final position. This created the conditions for concreting the carriageway slab. Donges SteelTec has thus once again demonstrated its capabilities in the construction of large bridges.

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A6 Grumbachtalbrücke

Assembly start of the 2nd construction phase of the Grumbach Valley Bridge near St. Ingbert

In April 2023, construction work on the 1st construction phase of the Grumbach Valley Bridge was completed and traffic was diverted to the newly constructed structure. Following the demolition of the existing structure and the construction of the first substructures, our assembly team has now set up the construction site for the assembly of the steel structure of the 2nd construction phase (substructure 1) for the Mannheim direction of travel.

In the first assembly phase, two auxiliary supports were erected over the past few weeks to store the 262-tonne steel structures. The first large components were then transported overnight from our plant in Darmstadt to the construction site in Saarland using heavy goods vehicles. There they were first turned on the ground and then lifted into their final position using two 650 tonne mobile cranes. Once the steel parts had been successfully lifted into place, the component joints were welded and then coated with corrosion protection.

A total of 22 sections and 6 cross beams for the entire substructure are assembled in this way.

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