28 February 2013.
The Chain Bridge of Budapest was the technical pinnacle of its time. There was no comparable investment, either technically or financially, in the Habsburg Empire. Apart from the narrow section of the river above Regensburg, it was the first permanent Danube bridge, as even Vienna did not have a permanent crossing at the time. Building a bridge over a river with such a huge runoff raised an extreme challenge. Four circular dams were erected to build the two embankment and two riverbed piers, driving in a total of 6,000 piles, each about 20 metres long. It was the largest chain bridge and the second largest suspension bridge in the world at the time. The steam engine that lifted the chains into place was specially designed for the purpose, and divers in state-of-the-art suits were employed to inspect the piles underwater.
