Rosenstein Bridge

Due to damage, the Rosenstein Bridge in Bad Cannstatt was dismantled between January and July 2024 and is to be replaced by a new bridge. From mid-November, a temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will connect Cannstatt's old town with Wilhelma, Pragstraße and Neckarvorstadt.

27.10.2025

Jürgen Mutz, Head of the Civil Engineering Department, explains in the video how the dismantling of the Rosenstein Bridge works.

The Rosenstein Bridge was dismantled in several stages, in some cases even from the Neckar. Due to its dimensions and weight, it was not possible to dismantle the bridge into two or three parts and then lift it out with a crane. The first step was therefore to saw off and lift out the bridge deck in the areas of the former light rail tracks and footpaths. In a second step, heavy, floating equipment was used to dismantle the remaining part of the structure from the Neckar.

The dismantling of the Rosenstein Bridge was completed in July 2024. A temporary bridge for pedestrian and cycle traffic will be opened at the same location in mid-November 2025. The construction of the new Rosenstein Bridge is then planned until around 2031. The local council will decide on the new Rosenstein Bridge and its functionality. As soon as the traffic structure concept for Bad Cannstatt and Neckarvorstadt is available, the tender for the planning services for the replacement of the Rosenstein Bridge can be issued.

Pedestrian and bicycle traffic

In place of the current Rosenstein Bridge, a temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will connect the old town with Wilhelma, Pragstraße and Neckarvorstadt from mid-November. Until then, the Neckar can be crossed in Bad Cannstatt via the Wilhelmsbrücke.

Execution and timing

Work to dismantle the Rosenstein Bridge began in mid-January 2024. The asphalt was milled out, the street lighting was dismantled and the remaining concrete between the existing light rail tracks was removed.

The first phase of the actual bridge dismantling began at the end of February 2024. The cantilevered bridge panels in the areas of the former light rail tracks and the external footpaths were sawn off in segments and lifted out with the crawler crane, which was located next to the elevated bunker (shown in orange in Figure 1). What remained were two arched main girders that spanned the Neckar (colored yellow in cross-section in Figure 1 and in longitudinal section in Figures 2 to 4).

In the second phase, the two bridge girders were dismantled from the Neckar using floating equipment. For this purpose, the Neckar had to be completely closed to shipping traffic at the level of the Rosenstein Bridge.

Two images of the Rosenstein Bridge. The views are shown as construction drawings in computer graphics from the side.

In phase 1, the areas of the bridge shown in orange in the sketch are dismantled section by section. Two main girders remain (colored yellow in the longitudinal section in Figure 2).

Figure 3 shows the pontoons, the floating platforms with scaffolding towers, over which the main girders of the bridge are finally floated out (Figure 4).

A graphic representation of the dismantling of the bridge. Figure 3 shows how the remaining bridge girder is held by the crane. After another cut, it is lifted out by the crane and temporarily stored on the bank.

The last illustration shows how the remaining bridge girder is held by the crane. After another cut, it is lifted out by the crane and temporarily stored on the bank.

On June 16, a 50-metre-long section of the first bridge girder was sawn off, lowered onto a floating platform and transported away (Figure 3). On June 17, the remaining 20-meter-long piece of the bridge girder was removed with a wire saw and loaded onto a waiting ship with the crawler crane (Figure 4).

Until the first bridge girder was removed on June 16, shipping on the Neckar was closed due to the Neckar flood. The closure was repeated two weeks later, on Saturday, June 29, until Tuesday, early in the morning, July 2.

The dismantling of the Rosenstein Bridge was successfully completed on the last weekend of June. In the afternoon, a crawler crane lifted out the last 90-tonne section of the remaining bridge girder and loaded it onto a barge. The larger, 50-metre-long section of the bridge girder had already been cut off on Sunday evening using a wire saw and lowered onto a floating platform early Monday morning and transported away.

A view of the Rosenstein Bridge from diagonally above. The asphalt on the bridge has been milled out.

The dismantling of Rosenstein Bridge began in January 2024. Among other things, the asphalt was milled out and the street lighting on the Rosenstein Bridge was removed. The actual dismantling work began at the end of February.

You can see the remains of the milled asphalt on the Rosenstein Bridge, an excavator and two cranes.

The road surface was gradually removed and transported away. This left the concrete surface exposed.

A bird's eye view of the Rosenstein Bridge. You can see part of the bridge and the elevated bunker in Stuttgart Bad-Cannstatt.

The individual bridge sections were so large and heavy that they had to be sawn out step by step and lifted out with the help of a lattice boom crane.

The lower part of the crawler crane and a special transport with other crane components are standing in front of the bunker in Bad-Cannstatt.

Due to its enormous size, the lattice boom crane itself had to be delivered in parts and assembled on site.

Some parts of the crawler crane were delivered at night by special transport. Here, for example, you can see the large counterweights that give the crane stability despite its height.

Some parts were delivered at night by special transport. For example, the lattice mast, which can be seen in the next picture.

The boom of the crawler crane is delivered at night.

In order to assemble the lattice boom crane, a smaller telescopic crane (left edge of picture) had to be used.

The jib of the lattice boom crane measures 108 meters and can lift a load of up to 500 tonnes.

A view from diagonally above shows the erected crawler crane towering over the surrounding buildings.

The lattice boom crane stood directly next to the bunker on the south-eastern bank of the Neckar and towered over the surrounding buildings.

A bird's eye view of the Rosernstein Bridge. The assembled crawler crane and two pontoons (floating work platforms) can be seen.

The pontoons, as floating and motorized work platforms, enable work on the bridge from the water. One pontoon remained on site during the entire construction period and was used to dismantle the main girders in phase 2.

The remaining bridge girders of the Rosenstein Bridge are being removed. In the area on the left, you can see how a concrete bridge girder is being lifted with the help of a crane.

The first bridge girder of the Rosenstein Bridge was successfully removed on June 16.

A large gray concrete bridge girder of the Rosenstein Bridge was transported away on a floating work platform.

The 50-meter-long section of the first bridge girder was sawn off, lowered onto the floating work platform and finally transported away.

The sawed-off bridge girder is transported away across the Neckar.

On June 17, the 2-meter-long remaining piece of the bridge girder followed. It was removed using a wire saw and loaded onto a waiting ship.

Some workers are on the floating work platform. The remaining bridge girder towers above them over the Neckar.

Additional floats were fitted to provide additional buoyancy for the pontoon. In addition, the level of the Neckar was raised by 50 centimetres thanks to the support of the Waterways and Shipping Office at the weir in Stuttgart-Hofen.

A large concrete bridge section is being loaded onto a transport ship. There is also a yellow crane on the ship, with a man in a construction helmet and safety vest standing on its crawler track.

The last piece of the remaining bridge girder, weighing around 90 tons, was lifted out with the help of a crawler crane and loaded onto a barge.

The section of the bridge girder is loaded onto the ship. Some workers are standing around the section and directing the crane.

The dismantling, which was carried out with the help of a specialist company, proceeded as planned.

A section of the bridge girder lies on a floating working platform.

Minor delays had previously occurred because the 50-meter section had become wedged on one side when being lowered onto the floating platform, necessitating a further partial cut.

You can see one bank of the Neckar where the Rosenstein Bridge used to be.

To replace the Rosenstein Bridge, a temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will be built by mid-November 2025. Until then, the Neckar can be crossed via the Wilhelmsbrücke bridge.

A construction worker helps to lift the new temporary bridge over the Neckar in the dark on the construction site.

The new temporary bridge in Bad Cannstatt was lifted over the Neckar using a crawler crane on the evening of October 26, 2025. It was rotated by 90 degrees with the help of guide lines and placed precisely on the prepared abutments. The crane needed around 90 minutes for this process.

Aerial view of the transport ship in the port of Plochingen, which transported the temporary bridge to Bad Cannstatt.

The transport ship MS Oleander had transported the steel bridge weighing around 125 tons from the port of Plochingen across the Neckar to Bad Cannstatt.

Side view of the new temporary bridge over the Neckar in Bad Cannstatt with a view of the opposite bank.

The new temporary bridge for pedestrians and cyclists will open in mid-November 2025. At 70 meters, it connects the old town of Bad Cannstatt with Wilhelma, Pragstraße and Neckarvorstadt.

Data and facts

Location: Neckar crossing Bad Cannstatt

Client: City of Stuttgart, Technical Department, Civil Engineering Office

Project management: City of Stuttgart, Technical Department, Civil Engineering Office

Executing company: Max Wild GmbH

Start of deconstruction: mid-January 2024

End of deconstruction: July 2024

Deconstruction costs: around 9 million euros

State capital Stuttgart

Rosenstein Bridge

Pedestrian and bicycle traffic

Execution and timing

Data and facts

Explanations and information

Picture credits