Skip to main content

Upgrade set to start of Budapest’s Széchenyi Chain Bridge

Budapest’s iconic Széchenyi Chain Bridge that was opened in 1849 is set for a €73 million upgrade starting this summer, according to Hungarian media. Work will include revamping of a nearby tunnel in the Hungarian capital with completion set for the end of 2019. The suspension Chain Bridge spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest and was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark following an initiative by the Count István Széchenyi. It is a larger scale version of Clark's earlier Marlow B
April 4, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
RSSBudapest’s iconic Széchenyi Chain Bridge that was opened in 1849 is set for a €73 million upgrade starting this summer, according to Hungarian media.

Work will include revamping of a nearby tunnel in the Hungarian capital with completion set for the end of 2019.

The suspension Chain Bridge spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest and was designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark following an initiative by the Count István Széchenyi. It is a larger scale version of Clark's earlier Marlow Bridge, across the River Thames in Marlow, near London. Its 202m centre span was one of the longest in the world when bridge was opened.

It was designed in sections and shipped from the United Kingdom for assemble in Budapest. The two-lane deck is nearly 15m wide and the iron chains on which the road-deck hangs are supported by two 48m river piers in classicist style. The bridge was rebuilt in the late 1940s after being blown up by the retreating German army in early 1945.

Related Content

  • The world’s longest suspension bridge
    June 24, 2024
    The world’s longest suspension bridge is the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey. This engineering marvel links Gelibolu with Lapseki, forming a key section of the 101km highway linking Malkara with Çanakkale. *Article produced in partnership with the General Directorate of Highways (KGM), Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Republic of Türkiye.
  • Framework solutions speed bridge construction
    February 24, 2012
    Framework plays a key role in construction of bridges and other major infrastructure works – Mike Woof writes Speeding construction processes can help reduce costs considerably and the latest formwork solutions can provide significant benefits in this regard. In many projects the use of standardized and modular formwork solutions can play a key role, reducing the planning and systems required for bridge building work.
  • Dutch road widening benefits from 3D software
    February 24, 2012
    Modern software is stretching traditional design boundaries on a motorway widening in the Netherlands, reports Adrian Greeman There was a time when civil engineering and aesthetics did not mix too well, especially on roads. The artistic ideas of an architect did not blend with the stringent requirements of structure. But modern three-dimensional modelling software is helping this change. Design notions that might have been overly complicated in the past are now attainable with hi-tech analysis tools.
  • More tenders for Lower Thames Crossing
    April 1, 2021
    The winners will build 23km of road connecting to the UK’s longest road tunnel.