The Dufour bridge on the Rhine in Basel

The Dufour bridge was a temporary strategic bridge on the Rhine in Basel in 1857 built by General Henri Dufour. It was located 100 m upstreams of the Wettstein bridge which did not yet exist. The reason was to have enough crossing capacity for the military, in the case of an attack by the Prussian at the time of the Neuchatel Affair (German : Neuenburger Handel, French : Affaire de Neuchâtel).

The Dufour bridge was a kind of a pontoon bridge. Built in 8 days, starting on 7 January 1857, it has been dismanteled in March 1857.