It is little consolation: after all, the controls in Germany work so well that no one has yet been harmed by a collapsing bridge.

The example of the Rahmede viaduct on the Autobahn 45 makes it clear that there is an acute danger that is imminent.

It is so broken that it has to be demolished and rebuilt.

On Friday, the responsible federal highway company pulled the rip cord.

The full closure of the Sauerland line near Lüdenscheid will drag on for several years. This is not only a disaster for the people in the region and the economy - South Westphalia is one of the strongest industrial locations in Germany. The closure also has an impact on the entire German autobahn system, because the traffic has to be diverted over a wide area to routes that are also congested.

It has long been known that in West Germany hundreds of bridges, most of which were built between 1960 and 1980, urgently need to be renewed.

The federal and state governments have been working hard for around a decade.

But projects are not infrequently delayed - such as the Rahmede viaduct, which has been known since 2014 that it has to be rebuilt.

Dare to make more progress - in transport infrastructure policy that means without ideological reservations about highways: More speed when renovating.