Highline179 is located near Reutte on the Bavarian-Austrian Border,
it extends at an altitude of 114 meters (374 ft) above the Ehrenburg castle and
connects the Ehrenburg ruins with Fort
Claudia. The location
of the bridge was chosen so that they with a span of 403 meters
(1,322 ft).
Construction
The 1.20 m wide pedestrian bridge consists of a
grating, which rests on crossbars, which are attached to the four supporting
cables with a diameter of 60 mm each by means of vertical hangers. On both
sides of the tread a 1.35 m high handrail is mounted, which is connected to the
grate through a wire mesh lattice. The supporting ropes are fastened on both
sides of the bridge with a total of 16 anchors which extend into the rock to a
depth of 17 m. The weight of the bridge is about 70 tons.
One end of the bridge is 9.85 m higher than the other
end. The pedestrian path is about 17 m between the two ends, and the sagging
can increase by about one meter depending on the load and the temperature. The
load bearing capacity is 1000 people, but for safety reasons only 500 people
can be on the bridge at the same time, which is ensured by turnstiles at both
ends. An entrance fee is charged for the use of the privately financed
bridge, which is absorbed by the municipality in case of a minimum use.
History
In the spring of 2012, the planning of the Hängebrücke
Ehrenberg was made after the building permit was granted. The goal was the
construction of the world's longest rope-hanging bridge, with a length of about
406 meters. The idea came from Maximilian Huttenloher (1952-2009) and was built
under architect Armin Walch, who was also involved in the planning of the
Hängebrücke Holzgau.
At the beginning of 2013, an investor
was found for the project. The market township of Reutte, the European Burmese Museum Ehrenberg
and the TVB Nature Park Region of Reutte signed the contract as the basis for
the construction and operation of the Hängebrücke.
Start of construction for the highline179 was in April
2014, and at the beginning of May the groundbreaking started. To protect
the trunk road to be crossed, a protective scaffold with switchboards was
installed over a length of 20 meters.
On October 29, 2014, the bridge was closed nine days
after the last cable pull. The opening was scheduled for October 10, 2014
and was postponed to November 22, 2014 as a result of delays.
After a thorough examination, the
highline179 was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the "longest pedestrian
bridge in the Tibet style". The Guinness World Records Certificate
confirmed "The longest Tibet-style footbridge is a catenary-shaped
walkway" which brought the distinction to the now opened, approximately
440 m long bridge in the Skypark of Sochi, which is constructed differently with
fixed walkways suspended under a tension belt