The dilapidated Rahmede viaduct on Autobahn 45, an important north-south axis of the Sauerland line, is to be blown up quickly.

“I would like the demolition to be completed this year and as quickly as possible.

That is ambitious, but achievable, ”said Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on Thursday in a digital press conference by the ministry and Autobahn GmbH.

Jonas Jansen

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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The bridge, which is otherwise crossed by 64,000 vehicles every day, has been completely closed since the beginning of December.

Until the new building, the vehicles have to find another route.

Even according to the most optimistic estimates, this will take at least five years.

This is a catastrophe for commuters and companies in the area, residents in Lüdenscheid have been complaining for weeks about the noise pollution and the traffic jam caused by the bridge closure in the city.

Example of Genoa

In order to improve the recently criticized communication strategy of the federal government and Autobahn GmbH, Wissing has appointed the mayor of Lüdenscheid, Sebastian Wagemeyer (SPD) as ombudsman for the project.

"He gets full transparency about the management of the project," said Wissing.

The federal government is following the example of Genoa, where the mayor was the mediator between the residents and the developers when building the bridge.

The mayor of Lüdenscheid also addressed the "deficits in the area of ​​communication" that have recently existed.

"It's about us all keeping in touch with each other," Wagemeyer said.

Residents who live directly under the bridge are concerned about their homes and are asking about possible compensation.

Wissing described their concerns as understandable, especially if they had recently invested in new roofs or fences.

"It is important that you speak to each individual," said the Federal Minister of Transport.

New construction in five years?

According to the Minister of Transport, the bridge blast and the new construction should become a kind of model for further dealing with the dilapidated motorway bridges in Germany.

Wissing announced a "bridge summit" that he would soon convene.

"This is absolutely necessary," said Wissing, because the current situation "made the alarm bells ring for me".

On Thursday, Wissing did not want to state whether the new building could be completed as planned in five years.

The project is being monitored very intensively.

"If we manage to be faster than forecast, we have a good chance of regaining trust in political processes," said Wissing.

They want to prove that Germany is able to move things forward faster than it has been in the past.

It is still unclear whether a repeated plan approval procedure can be avoided for the new building with a replacement building plan.

"That's difficult because we're obviously not planning a bridge as it was in the 1960s," said Wissing.

The test does not initially delay the planning.

There were already plans in 2014 for the Rahmede viaduct to be rebuilt in 2017.

The repair was canceled because of the plans for the new building, which were never implemented.

The irreparable damage was then discovered last winter.

A "bridge collapse" is imminent

Since the beginning of 2021, the federal highway company has been responsible for the entire infrastructure.

She wants to double the number of bridges she renews each year from 200 to 400. However, the motorway company is currently only reporting around 50 such projects.

Around half of the 28,000 motorway bridges in Germany were built between the 1960s and 1980s.

At the same time, traffic has more than doubled since then.

That's why so many bridges are dilapidated.

"Germany is on the verge of a bridge collapse," warned Tim-Oliver Müller, general manager of the German Construction Industry Association (HDB).

According to the Autobahn GmbH, around 3,000 bridges in Germany are in an inadequate or unsatisfactory condition.

The Autobahn company is demanding simplified building regulations for new replacement buildings and more money for bridge renovations.

Last year, 4.5 billion euros were available for maintenance, of which 1.57 billion should flow into bridge maintenance.

However, in 2021 the motorway company could not use half a billion euros of its budget.

IT difficulties paralyzed society, service providers complained about late payment of bills and there was a shortage of staff everywhere.

1.64 billion euros are available for this year.

The Federal Ministry of Transport believes that the structure of the motorway company, which means that the motorway is no longer taken care of at state level but at federal level, is a good idea: “The structure is a good basis for avoiding such situations in the future,” said white