A Tale of Two Bridges

In March of 1945, the German Army was collapsing. The Russians were racing to Berlin from the East, the Americans, Canadians and British were attacking from the West. By the Spring of ’45, the German Army was beaten, disheartened and defeated. The biggest obstacle facing the Allies in the West was the Rhine River.  

The Rhine is the longest River in Germany; in the days before rail, it served as the country’s super highway, transporting goods and trade. It also served as a natural, defensive barrier against invading armies. The Rhine acted like a giant moat, protecting Germany’s heartland.  It was a formidable obstacle for the Romans thousands of years ago; it was a formidable obstacle for the Allies in WWII. 

The US Army’s 9th Armored Division captured a Railroad Bridge crossing the Rhine at a German town called Remagen; it was the last crossing standing. The Army’s Engineers inspected the Remagen Bridge and concluded that, because of severe battle damage, its days were numbered. About eight-thousand American soldiers raced across the damaged bridge while it was still somewhat serviceable, while the Engineers worked feverishly on a new bridge to replace it.  Just ten days after its capture, the Remagan Bridge finally collapsed into the Rhine, but it didn’t stop the invading Americans pouring across the river; the hard working, can-do Engineers already had its replacement up and running.  

The amazing part of this true story is, our Engineers were able to build a bridge across the Rhine River (a bridge sound enough to carry Armies, countless tanks, and massive amounts of supplies) in just ten days, while under fire from artillery, mortars, small arms, and even V-2 Missile attacks.  

For the past twenty years or so (at least it seems like twenty years), every time I cross the Roslyn Viaduct, I think of those Army Engineers and the Remagen Bridge. I can’t help but wonder why the Roslyn Bridge is perpetually under construction; I can’t remember when it began, it never ends and there never seems to be any progress. It might not be completely fair to compare the construction of the Roslyn Viaduct to a field expedient bridge put up (in ten days) by soldiers, but when you think about it, it’s actually taking much longer to rebuild the Roslyn Viaduct than it did to fight and win World War Two.

The story of the Remagen Bridge was told in countless history books, there was even a major motion ("The Bridge at Remagen" with George Segal, Robert Vaughn and Ben Gazzara), it’s also featured in kid’s video games. I don’t think there will be much in history books about the construction of Roslyn Viaduct, and if anyone made a movie about it, the story would need to cover the span of decades. I suppose a ten part mini series could do it, but if it stays true to form, it will take way too much time to complete, and come in way over budget.