display

Herne (dpa / lnw) - The ailing and therefore closed to heavy trucks A43 bridge over the Rhine-Herne Canal will soon be examined more closely for its load-bearing capacity.

For a stress test planned for the third weekend in May, engineers on behalf of Autobahn GmbH have been installing highly sensitive sensors and several kilometers of cables on the structure near Herne since Monday.

With the help of temperature sensors and sensitive measuring strips, the experts collect data in order to find out more about the actual load-bearing capacity of the steel bridge.

For this purpose, trucks loaded with gravel are rolled onto specified points on the bridge in a controlled test.

Only after the evaluation can experts decide whether the bridge should remain closed to vehicles heavier than 3.5 tons or whether it should even be closed to all traffic.

“Full closure is the worst case.

That is not over yet, "said Carola Ziebs, project manager for the expansion of the A43 at the Westphalia motorway on Monday.

display

Data from an early routine bridge test that is currently being carried out are also taken into account.

A spokesman said a ten percent increase in traffic was already noticeable on inner-city alternative routes in the surrounding cities of Herne and Recklinghausen.

Experts had discovered that the steel girders of the bridge from 1965 had sagged by more than 20 centimeters due to significantly increased loads in recent years.

To relieve the traffic, the section has been taboo for heavy goods vehicles since April 12th.

For this reason, the entrances to the crossing motorways in the direction of the bridge are also closed.

Too many trucks were not yet complying with the ban, said Ziebs.

A weighing and barrier system is therefore to be installed in the summer to stop vehicles that are too heavy.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210426-99-359159 / 3

Press release