The railway bridge over the Oder River between Küstrin-Kietz on the German side and Kostrzyn on the Polish side is a cross-border symbol of European unity. The bridge structure, originally built in 1926, was replaced due to its structural condition.

The design concept for the replacement bridge emerged from a design competition won by Knight Architects and Schüßler-Plan with their proposal: a “radiant white, elegant network arch that connects Poland and Germany on equal footing.” A delicate network arch spans the border river as a cohesive design element and integrates harmoniously into the bridge structure through shaped cross-section transitions at the arch supports. On the Polish side, a three-span approach bridge continues seamlessly.

The structural system closely follows the competition winner’s design concept. However, the technically optimized alternative superstructure, designed by sbp, employs a hanger network made of carbon tension elements. The alignment, foundations, and substructures were designed by Schüßler-Plan.
This structure is considered the world’s first and so far only railway bridge to use the high-performance material carbon for its primary load-bearing elements. To ensure feasibility, the technical fundamentals were developed within a comprehensive expert-reviewed approval process for individual case consent.