Dual purpose

Renovation of a narrow river crossing in Hungary – originally built as a railway bridge but later converted to also accommodate road traffic on the same single-lane surface – required the rapid development and delivery of a tailored-to-suit expansion joint solution

The Kiskörei Tisza Bridge is a tied arch bridge in eastern Hungary that crosses the River Tisza near the town of Kisköre, around 120 km east of Budapest. It was built in the 1940s as a railway bridge, but became a mixed-use crossing a decade later, since then carrying road traffic as well. It is 584 metres long but only 5 metres wide, so – unlike typical new dual-purpose bridges such as the crossings of the River Ganges in India at Munger and Patna – trains and road vehicles must use the same surface, sharing the bridge’s single traffic lane (with the railway track rails sunk into the concrete deck). Traffic signals at each end of the structure control the passage of trains and road vehicles, one direction at a time.

In the course of a recently completed major renovation, the bridge’s deck was newly constructed with a replacement railway track. Of course, this required replacement of the bridge’s expansion joints as well – four in total, designed to accommodate movements of up to +/- 80 mm.

TENSA® FINGER expansion joints were selected for use, but the project’s needs necessitated a design that was far from standard. Most significantly, the geometry had to be adapted to accommodate the recessed rails, and the anchorages had to be strengthened to enable them to reliably withstand the heavy loading from railway vehicles. Adding to the challenge was the fact that the time allowed for supply was extremely short. Although the schedule allowed just eight weeks in total for design and fabrication, the expansion joints were delivered on time – thanks also to their being manufactured locally at mageba’s Hungarian factory.

This project neatly encapsulates several key aspects of mageba’s philosophy in supporting the global bridge construction and maintenance industry with high-quality products: “innovative”, “responsive”, “reliable”, and – as far as possible with our steadily expanding global network – “local”.

Bridge Owner/Client: Hungarian Road Authority, Hungarian Railways (MÁV)
Project manager: A-HÍD Zrt.
Contractor: A-HÍD Zrt.

Image © A-HÍD Zrt.

The bridge crosses the River Tisza near the town of Kisköre in eastern Hungary, about 120 km east of Budapest

Image © A-HÍD Zrt.

The bridge, just 5 m wide and with only one level, accommodates road and rail traffic on the same surface

The joints were fabricated locally at mageba’s Hungarian factory

Installation of one of the specially tailored expansion joints