The first construction of a pure railway bridge over the Elbe, with a laterally arranged sidewalk, took place in 1878 in the course of the Lübeck-Lüneburg railway and replaced traffic via the Lauenburg-Hohnstorf train. The 448 meter long structure had, among other things, three power openings with a span of 100 meters each, three flood openings with a span of 40 meters each and two openings with a width of 14 meters. The bridge was designed for two tracks, but only one track was ever in operation.
This railway bridge was last hard fought in the Second World War. In the last days of the war the bridge was destroyed.
The reconstruction as a combined road and railway bridge took place by 1951. The structure connects Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein as part of the B 209, which in turn flows into the B 5 in Lauenburg at the bridge over the Elbe-Lübeck Canal. With a length of 517 meters, the bridge is longer than the previous one. It has eight openings, with the flow channel being spanned by a two-span strut truss girder with a span of 104.61 meters each. The approach bridges are solid steel girder constructions with spans of around 53 metres.
Source: Wikipedia