No sooner has the dust settled on the falling concrete parts of the Salzbachtal Bridge than those responsible at Autobahn GmbH are quite sure of only one point: there can be no question of a failure of the autobahn administration.

Beyond that, however, the supposed experts know astonishingly little: Neither how the collapse of the bridge bearings could come about, nor how things should continue now and how long the foreseeable traffic blackout in the west of the Rhine-Main region could last.

This continues the tragedy of the prestressed concrete bridge built in 1963, which was supposed to give way to a new building by 2025.

After construction workers had already damaged a number of "tendons" that were important for the statics in 2019, the north bridge had been closed for months.

And after it had finally been reinforced to temporarily accommodate all traffic, there was a month-long dispute with private construction companies about the best demolition method for the ailing south bridge.

For a long time in a badly weakened condition

A consensus was only found in April. But the south bridge is now crumbling faster than the demolition excavators could roll into. It was clear to everyone involved that the south bridge had been in a badly weakened condition for a long time. Nevertheless, it was not monitored as seamlessly with sensors as the north bridge, which was still in use. If bridge bearings can burst in Germany for no apparent reason, this is cause for serious concern. Especially since the climate cannot currently be ruled out as the cause. In any case, the fact that the autobahn administration was the first to wash their hands in innocence cannot be accepted.

It will be months rather than weeks before traffic can flow again. Both over the bridge and under it. Even if the north bridge was not damaged this time, the mistrust of the remaining bridge bearings of the southern structure dictates that you play it safe. The risk that parts of the south bridge could fall against the north bridge cannot simply be accepted. For the people in Wiesbaden and the region, this means a state of emergency in terms of traffic. This disaster will not end until the south bridge is razed to the ground. This can take many months - or ten seconds, if the demolition masters can come up with a convincing concept. In any case, hard times are ahead for commuters. Good for those who sit in the home office "thanks" to Corona.