How it began
Stefan Bryła, a professor at the Lwów University of Technology, designed the bridge in 1927 after extensive studies of welded steel joints and of gas and electric arc welding. He and Wenczesław Poniż converted his earlier design for a riveted bridge to the new method, redesigning the cross-beams and parts of the chords. The bridge stands near the village of Maurzyce, close to Łowicz in central Poland. Construction finished in December 1928, and it opened to road traffic in August 1929.
Before it existed
Welding had been known since the late 19th century, but its use was mostly limited to buildings and shipbuilding. Steel bridges were joined with rivets. Building a welded bridge was considered extremely risky, so the experienced Warsaw firm K. Rudzki i S-ka was chosen as contractor and fabricator.
How it works
Apart from its joints the structure is an ordinary truss bridge, with two main truss beams, a straight bottom chord and a parabolic top chord. It is 27 meters long and 6.76 meters wide and carried two traffic lanes and two sidewalks. The parts were made at the Rudzki factory in Mińsk Mazowiecki and welded together on site. Arc welding brought the weight to 56 metric tons, where a riveted version would have weighed over 70.
What changed first
The bridge needed 17 percent less steel and less time to build, so its total cost was much lower even though welding itself cost more than riveting. European and American engineering journals described the work, and engineers from around the world visited. Poland then became the first country to regulate the construction of welded bridges.
Where it stands today
The bridge carried a national road until 1977, when it proved too narrow. It was moved about 20 meters north and closed to traffic, and a replacement was built in its place. It has been a listed monument since 1968, was refurbished in 2009 and now carries pedestrians only. A memorial plaque to Bryła was unveiled beside it in 2011.
