Access Bridge in the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant Complex in Wrocław

The Access Bridge in the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant complex is a reinforced concrete crossing within the power plant site in Wrocław's Old Town. It is not an ordinary town bridge but an internal access road to the power plant grounds, so it cannot be freely walked or driven across like an ordinary street.

Part of the power plant complex on the Southern Oder

The bridge is an internal industrial crossing within the hydroelectric power plant site, spanning the Southern Oder, that is a side arm of the Oder running through the Śródmiejski Water Junction. It is in this channel that the power plant hall with its turbines stands. The bridge connects the left-bank part of the city with an unnamed island, on which part of the power plant buildings and the Mieszczański Weir are located.

Built in the 1920s

The entire power plant complex was built between 1921 and 1924 to a design by Max Berg and Ludwig Moshamer. The bridge itself was put into use in 1922, while work on the rest of the complex was still under way. It is a reinforced concrete, three-span structure, 40.20 metres long and 5.70 metres wide.

Heritage protection

In 1993 the entire building complex of the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant, with the access bridge listed as one of its structures, was entered on the heritage register. However, the bridge remains part of an operating industrial facility, not a separate attraction for visiting - it is accessible to staff and services running the power plant, not to tourists.

Practical information

• Location: Old Town in Wrocław, within the Southern Hydroelectric Power Plant complex on the Southern Oder
• Access: a technical structure inside an operating facility, not open to visitors; it can be viewed from the outside, from the embankment
• Nearby: a walk towards the centre leads to the Market Square and Tumski Bridge, and on the other side of the river is the Market Hall