Bridge at the Citadel

The Citadel Bridge, also known as the Citadel Railway Bridge, is a significant piece of infrastructure on the Vistula River in Warsaw. The first bridge of this name, referred to as the Second Bridge, was opened in 1875 as a combined rail and road bridge. It was designed by Tadeusz Chrzanowski and built by the company Lilpop, Rau and Loewenstein. This was the second permanent bridge in Warsaw after the Kierbedź Bridge. Its structure was two-level, with railway tracks on the top and pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the bottom. As early as 1905–1908, a new railway bridge with two tracks was constructed, designed by Nikolai Belelubsky. Both bridges were destroyed during World War I and World War II, and only the railway bridge from 1908 was rebuilt in 1946, becoming the first permanent bridge on the Vistula after the war. This bridge played a crucial role in the industrialization of Praga, facilitating the transport of materials to factories. Between 1957 and 1959, a new Gdański Bridge was constructed on the pillars of the 1875 bridge. Interestingly, in 2009, fragments of the 1875 bridge structure were discovered and are set to be displayed in urban spaces. Additionally, a section of the second bridge, built between 1905 and 1908, is currently exhibited at the Pontiseum, located in the Road and Bridge Research Institute.