RSS SSI Słupsk
Slupsk Service Information
Bridges first part
The bridge Czolgowy
Tank crossing bridgeThe bridge Czolgowy (eng. Tank Bridge) is situated in the Slupsk Park of Culture and Leisure – from all the bridges in Slupsk this is the one situated in the uppest reaches of the river in this area. This is a steel single-span truss-rope construction with wooden covering. It was built as a typical railway bridge in 1890, when a construction of the Slupia Valley Railway was in progress (a Slupsk-Debnica Kaszubska track was opened on 15th August 1894). On the map on the previous page you can clearly see that it forms an extension to a railway out of service today that ends in Sloneczna Street. At the night on 7th/8th March 1945 the bridge was partly destroyed (as most Slupsk bridges were) by withdrawing German divisions in order to delay attack of Red Army forces. After the Second World War, the bridge was picked and placed on abutments again. Its today's name goes after tanks crossing it in the post-war years that resided in an armoured-force unit in South Forest. Tanks were sometimes loaded onto rail platforms on a nearby track. During its history, the bridge was also called Zelazny (eng. Iron Bridge) or Saperski (eng. Sapper's Bridge), playing a role of a passage for pedestrians and bicycles. In September 2000, Slupsk councillors officially decided to bring back the old but unofficial name – the bridge Czolgowy.
Sluzy Lososiowe
Salmon LocksJust behind a bridge in Park of Culture and Leisure, called the bridge Weselny (put up in 1876 – however an origin of the name is unknown) by inhabitants of villages located right next to the city from the south side before the war, being a passage for pedestrians and bicycles with an arched construction today, Sluzy Lososiowe (eng. Salmon Locks) are located. Its name has not changed since the 17th century. Despite its name, this technical object is actually not a lock but a nine-span reinforced-concrete weir, damming up the river level by about 2 metres. A current construction was designed in the inter-war period. For first 300 years it was a wooden building with a main purpose to dam up water for the river Mlynowka (a mill and a sawmill on the island) and to keep water in the Slupia basin at a time of spring thaws. Also, it was a great place for catching Atlantic salmon and brown trout that swam to lay their eggs up the Slupia River every year between September and December. A periodical fish yield was a major source of income for Slupsk residents and brought about their wealth in the past centuries. In the following years catching these fish was limited due to a central-government monopoly and that is why the place is called Sluzy Lososiowe. In 2004, construction of a fish ladder for migratory fish and a place for catching spawning fish was done. This interesting object is a concrete-stone channel 63 metres long running around the left abutment of the weir. The fish ladder channel is divided into 12 chambers separated by stone compartments forming a pass for fish swimming against the current. A bottom slope rate is 1,9%. The place for catching fish is formed by two pools (19,0x3,5 and 8,0x3,5 metres) for keeping caught spawning fish and a container building where spawn is inseminated for raising purposes.
The bridge Zamkowy
Castle BridgeThe oldest Slupsk bridge situated beside a Szczecin-Gdansk route was a wooden construction for many centuries. In 1913, when a flat, three-span, concrete road bridge was built, it was named the bridge Ksiazecy (eng. Ducal Bridge). Before the Second World War, there was a coat of arms of the city on its sides. Pay attention to two pillars protected with reinforced-concrete ice aprons (pyramids with a triangular base) against pressure of ice and floe in the wintertime and during spring thaws. As another Slupsk bridges, this one was blown up on the night on 7th/8th March 1945. Yet, it suffered only slight damages. Red Army forces made some temporary repairs (that is, filled holes with wood) and let armoured divisions continue their ride towards Gdansk. In post-war Slupsk this bridge was commonly called a fire brigade bridge or a castle bridge. Hence, in September 2000, Slupsk councillors finally put a name the bridge Zamkowy (eng. Castle Bridge). into effect.
Bridges on the river Mlynowka
Wooden mill bridgeBehind the bridge Zamkowy the mill channel links with the Slupia River again. On Mlynowka there are three small bridges – the first one in Park of Culture and Leisure was called the bridge Drewniany (eng. Wooden Bridge). (it was an extension to that day's Drewniana Street) before the war. Today, this is a small reinforced-concrete bridge for pedestrians and bicycles with arched construction. Another bridge is the bridge Bonawentury Jegierskiego put parallel to the one mentioned above (as Zamkowa Street runs along both constructions), a flat single-span reinforced-concrete structure. The last bridge on Mlynowka is a small concrete footbridge next to the Castle Mill. Its wooden predecessor was laid over the river in 1811. Probably, in the same year a small wooden bridge near the Castle Mill was built – see a picture beside.