I must say, when I saw this picture in my email box I became very suspect about it being a hoax. So I did some digging.
Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long Now this is engineering!This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany, as part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg, near Berlin. The photo was taken on the day of inauguration. To those who appreciate engineering projects. |
Here is the original photo I saw.
I typed the town name, Magdeburg, from the email into my Google Earth, and lo and behold, I saw channel after channel of waterways. So I looked at the likeliest direct crossing water and came up with this.
If you look carefully, you can see the crossing point going east west. It appears to be two white strips on either side as I believe this satellite photo was taken during the construction phase.
I then found some supporting maps on various German websites, including this one which exactly maps on to my Google Earth. Here is the clearest.
For posterity, here is a side view of the bridge I found at a German waterway construction site.
I was first amazed by German technology when a friend of mine had a piece of permanently shaped wire that you could bend and when heated with a match sized flame, returned to its’ original mold. I was about 9. Things like this bridge just reinstill my faith in the technology and interest in it that Germans have.
I just wanted to give some Kudo’s to our G8 partner. It is well deserved for this one.
Supporting links:
Waterway Cross Magdeburg – Wikipedia
WasserstraBenkreuz Magdeburg – Official Canal Site (I think)
Canal Bridge Magdeburg – dillinger.de website