Now Here's a Canal

If you are not a Physics person, read the last paragraph and learn a fact of physics.

                                Have you ever seen a river over a river? AMAZING.....

Magdeburg Water Bridge

Even after you see it, it is still hard to believe!
Water Bridge in Germany .   What a feat!

Six years, 500 million euros, 918 meters long . . . now this is engineering!

This is a channel-bridge over the River Elbe and joins the former East and West Germany ,
As part of the unification project. It is located in the city of Magdeburg , near Berlin .
The photo was taken on the day of inauguration . . .

To those who appreciate engineering projects, here's a puzzle for you armchair engineers
.. . .  and physicists.

Question:

Did that bridge have to be designed to withstand the additional weight of ship and barge traffic,
Or just the weight of the water?

Answer:

It only needs to be designed to withstand the weight of  the water!

Why?

A ship always displaces an amount of water that weighs the same as the ship, regardless of how heavily a ship may be loaded 

Construction of the water link was started as early as in the 1930s but due to the World War 2 and subsequent division of Germany the work remained suspended till 1997. The aqueduct was finally completed and opened to the public in 2003