Germany Work after the bridge collapse in Dresden

The damaged section of the Carola Bridge in Dresden in eastern Germany is to be completely demolished.

Preparatory measures for a controlled demolition are currently underway, according to fire department spokesman Michael Klahre. However, the fire department believes that approaching storms could make the work more difficult: From Sunday, there is a threat of flooding in the Elbe due to expected heavy rainfall in the Czech Republic. It is still unclear exactly what this means for the operation at the collapse site and the recovery of the debris.

The Czech weather service CHMU warned of an extreme risk of heavy rain, high water and flooding over the next few days. Water has already been released from numerous dams in the country to create capacity.

Czech Republic does not want to reduce the flow in the Elbe

According to the Saxony State Flood Center, 200 liters of precipitation per square metre are expected to fall in the Czech Republic and southern Poland within 72 hours by Monday. The Czech Republic has already announced that it does not intend to reduce the flow rate in the Elbe.

"I am sure that our Saxon colleagues also understand that a bridge that has actually collapsed cannot now take priority over protecting the property and lives of not only Czech citizens, but also German citizens in particular," said Czech Agriculture Minister Marek Vyborny on Wednesday.

The federal state of Saxony is also expected to see rain from Friday to Monday - although it is not yet clear how much. The forecasts of the German Weather Service (DWD) for Dresden vary between 20 and 70 liters per square meter. However, no storm-like event with enormous amounts of rain is expected in Saxony, it said.

The fire department in Dresden was prepared for a possible flood of the Elbe on Wednesday. "We are sensitized and prepared," said a spokesperson. The further development of the situation is being closely monitored, the Saxon State Environment Agency announced.

Safety work underway after partial collapse

At 2.59 a.m. on Wednesday night, a 100-metre-long section of the Carola Bridge, over which tram tracks and a footpath and cycle path ran, collapsed into the Elbe. No one was injured.

Just ten minutes earlier, at around 2.50 a.m., the last streetcar had crossed the bridge, according to the Dresden transport company. The cause of the partial collapse was initially unclear. The police are not currently assuming any external influence and continue to classify the collapse of the Carola Bridge as an accident. There is no suspicion of a criminal act so far, said a police spokesman.

One initial assumption was that corrosion had made a significant contribution to the collapse, said Steffen Marx, professor at the Institute for Solid Construction at the TU Dresden. The bridge - one of the most important traffic arteries in Dresden's city center - had long been considered in need of renovation.

In recent years, parts of the bridge have already been renovated for car traffic, and the renovation of the now collapsed bridge span was planned for next year.

According to the fire department, the partially collapsed Dresden Elbe Bridge as a whole is at risk. The day after the partial collapse, safety work was initially carried out on the structure. Last night, a substructure was completed on the Dresden Neustadt side to support the bridge at the crossing to the mainland, said a fire department spokesman.

Demands are being made of politicians

Meanwhile, a debate has broken out about the condition of bridges in Germany. "Basically, you can say that all bridges built before 1980 are our problem patients," bridge expert Martin Mertens, professor at Bochum University of Applied Sciences, told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND). Unfortunately, most of them are because of the real building boom after the Second World War. Politicians must react. "Dresden clearly shows: it's five past twelve."

The President of the German Construction Industry Association, Wolfgang Schubert-Raab, believes that investment is urgently needed, according to a press release. He described the collapse in Dresden as a "sad symbol of German infrastructure", which highlighted the urgent need for action.

Following the partial collapse, the German Construction Industry Federation is also insisting that the renovation of bridges in Germany be given top priority.

In the budget debate in the Bundestag, Transport Minister Volker Wissing pointed out that more than nine billion euros would be available for investment in federal highways and bridges in the coming year.

With regard to the collapse of the Carola Bridge in Dresden, he explained that it was a municipal responsibility and therefore had nothing to do with the federal budget. "But this bridge shows how dangerous it is when infrastructure is not carefully invested in."

SDA