The afternoon of March 29, 2001: A fully loaded cargo ship rams the river pillar of the Segnitzer Bridge and now lies between the pillar and the market-wide bank across the Main. The 100 meter long, 1500 tons heavy and loaded with 1300 tons of coal ?? Senator ?? the shipping company Väth from Würzburg had previously anchored at the Marktbreiter landing stage because of the flood.
In the afternoon, shortly after 2 p.m., she was allowed to continue towards Schweinfurt. The engine suddenly failed under the bridge and the ship ran out of control. and was therefore no longer maneuverable. Due to the strong current, the freighter drifted off and got stuck on the bridge pillar. The next morning a salvage ship with a dredger was used that picked up part of the coal load, so that the ?? Senator ?? could be pulled back into the fairway.
During the rescue operation, the bridge was closed to pedestrians and vehicles. The river crossing has always served to accommodate the supply and disposal facilities between Marktbreit and Segnitz, although the gas pipeline now posed a particular danger. The road construction authority ordered a complete closure of the Segnitzer bridge. For the Segnitz-Marktbreit connection, only the detour via the Ochsenfurt Bridge remained.
Only limited use
One dive brought a sobering result: In addition to old damage from the previous year, the diver also found a current crack in the foundation of the river pillar. The road construction authority therefore only allowed limited use of the bridge by means of traffic lights. In June a groundbreaking decision was made: the road construction authority, the waterways and shipping directorate, the government of Lower Franconia, the district administration, the town of Marktbreit and the municipality of Segnitz to build a new bridge without piers.
The explosive nature of a new building and, above all, of bridging security measures was made clear on July 30th by the clash of the Regensburg push convoy ?? Express 41 ?? with a Dutch motor ship. While at least the Dutch ship suffered considerable damage, at least the bridge remained intact. In October 2001, the Waterways and Shipping Administration decided in favor of ramming protection. This steel corset, which cost DM 480,000, was intended to cushion further impacts from the ship and thus protect the pillar. With this measure, which was completed at the end of November 2001, traffic lights were no longer necessary and traffic on the Segnitzer Bridge could flow around the clock again.
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Referendum triggered
The location discussions for the new bridge, which triggered a referendum in Segnitz, ended with the decision of the water and shipping administration, the government of Lower Franconia and the road construction authority to build the new bridge 90 meters up the Main. The ground-breaking ceremony took place in February 2009. On September 5, 2010, eight and a half years after the building decision, the 160-meter-long, eleven-meter-wide and 6.4-meter-high Segnitz Bridge III, which cost more than 12.1 million euros, was opened to traffic be released.
In September 2010 the last iron parts of the old bridge were dismantled. The steel half-timbered structure of the bridge has been used since 2017 on the event area of the ?? Bridge Baron ?? in Bolzhausen in the Ochsenfurter Gau as a restaurant.
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