Langebro in new colours

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Langebro - the main road bridge from the city centre to Amager - is hung with scaffolding as the ironwork is repainted.

Langebro was designed by Kaj Gottlob (1887-1976) and was opened in 1954. There are three wide arches with the outer in brick and the central opening arch in iron to cross the harbour - here well over 100 metres across. It carries a wide deck - about 33 metres wide - with three lanes of fast-moving traffic in each direction and bike lanes and footpaths on both sides.

With the construction of the BLOX building, the elegant silhouette of the bridge and the copper-clad bridge tower has been lost when seen from the south. The iron railings and the gantry towers were white or grey white but were recently basically dirt and rust …. hence the need to repaint.

The new colour scheme has pale grey-blue paint for the gantries; very dark blue for the railings, and a deep steel grey for the ironwork of the central arch below the bridge deck. This goes some way to restore a stronger upper edge to the bridge when seen from the quay and is a phenomenal improvement.

Are there drawings or records that show the original colours? - Gottlob certainly used strong colours in many of his buildings and for his furniture and interior designs- or was this an inspired choice by the city engineers?

To give greater strength to the railings, without using heavier ironwork, there are, inner and outer lines of rails that are staggered.

note:
the scaffolding that, in effect, hooked over the top of the railings with heavy concrete blocks on the pavement to counterbalance platforms hanging out over the water.

the old ….

and the new

 

Langebro - a new museum

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Plans have been submitted to the department of Culture and Leisure for permission to create a new museum for Langebro with a new café in the substructure of the bridge on the Amager side.

There has been a bridge here since the 17th century but the present bridge designed by Kaj Gottlob was completed in 1954.

On the 17 January 2019 there will be a meeting about the bridge and the new museum at the nearby Kulturhuset down the harbour from the bridge and there is information about the bridge and about the proposed museum here.

 

Knippelsbro - KULTURTÅRNET

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At the centre of the harbour is Knippelsbro - the bridge between the historic centre of the city and Christianshavn. There has been a bridge here since the early 17th century when houses and warehouses were first built on land claimed from the sea in what was then a wide stretch of open water between the walled settlement of Copenhagen and the island of Amager.

The present bridge was completed in 1937 - designed by Kaj Gottlob and built by Wright, Thomsen & Kier with Burmeister & Wain - an engineering company whose works were just to the west of the bridge and whose ship yards were then to the east at Refshaleøen.

Earlier bridges had been at the level of the quay so had to be raised for most shipping to pass and were relatively narrow. As the port expanded, traffic crossing over and passing under the bridge increased so the new bridge, with a deck well over 27 metres wide, meant there could be tram tracks in each direction down the centre, wide lanes for traffic and wide pavements and, set much higher, with long approach ramps on both sides, the bridge only had to be raised for the larger ships passing through to the quays where the National Library now stands and to a long line of quays along the Islands Brygge side.

With its two copper-clad towers on distinctive stone piers, set just out from the quays, the bridge is an iconic and perhaps the iconic feature of the inner harbour.

Those towers held control rooms and sleeping accommodation for the men who supervised and opened the bridge but with the decline in harbour traffic the bridge is now controlled from the tower on the city side and the tower on the south or Christianshavn side of the bridge has been redundant for many years. A long campaign of lobbying and a serious programme of restoration work has lead to the south tower reopening as a new cultural attraction in the city. Visitors can climb up to the upper viewing gallery for amazing views up and down the harbour and in the process appreciate the quality of the well-thought through and careful design of the tower itself … now restored as one of the major monuments in the city from the 1930s that can be seen in its original form.

Some facilities were upgraded, including the fitting out of a new kitchen, so the tower can be used for social and cultural events including as a venue for meetings and meals and there have even been a couple of jazz concerts.

For information - Kulturtårnet or email l.lyndgaard@gmail.com