The Theodor Heuss Bridge is an arch bridge

Arch bridge

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...

 over the Rhine River connecting the Mainz-Kastel

Mainz-Kastel

Mainz-Kastel is a district administered by the city of Wiesbaden, Germany. Mainz-Kastel was formerly a district of the city of Mainz, until the public administration by the city of Wiesbaden was decided on August 10, 1945...

 district of Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...

, capital of state Hesse

Hesse

Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...

 and the Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

 state capital Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

. The main span of the bridge is 102.94 metres (337.7 ft) long. It connects the Bundesstraßes 40 and 455. It was later named for German statesman Theodor Heuss

Theodor Heuss

Theodor Heuss was a liberal German politician who served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II from 1949 to 1959...

.

The Romans

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 had built a bridge in this region in 27 AD, while the first arch bridge was inaugurated on 30 May 1885. Its construction costs of 3.6 million gold marks

German gold mark

The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...

 were recouped through tolls within three years although tolls continued to be levied until 1912. The bridge was widened from 1931 to 1934 but was destroyed on 17 March 1945 by German military engineer

Military engineer

In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...

s at the end of the second World War. To forestall a second Remagen, the Germans by 19 March

Operation Undertone

Operation Undertone was a large assault by the U.S. 7th and French 1st Armies as part of the Allied invasion of Germany in March 1945 during World War II. Opposing commanders were U.S. General Jacob L. Devers, commanding U.S. 6th Army Group and German SS General Paul Hausser, commanding German Army...

 had blown all Rhine bridges from Ludwigshafen northward.

It was rebuilt in the years 1948 to 1950 and partially reconstructed between 1992 and 1995 for a cost of 139.5 million mark

German mark

The Deutsche Mark |mark]], abbreviated "DM") was the official currency of West Germany and Germany until the adoption of the euro in 2002. It is commonly called the "Deutschmark" in English but not in German. Germans often say "Mark" or "D-Mark"...

s.