The Rahmede viaduct is blown up, the explosives explode in the bridge piers, after which the viaduct sinks to the ground as planned. © Christoph Reichwein/dpa
The dilapidated A45 Rahmede viaduct in North Rhine-Westphalia has been brought down. On Sunday, the nationwide attention was blown up of the concrete giant. The Federal Minister of Transport took a close look at the spectacle.
Lüdenscheid - The dilapidated Rahmede viaduct on the A45 in North Rhine-Westphalia was blown up in a controlled manner in Lüdenscheid on Sunday. The 17,000-tonne and up to 70-metre-high structure on the motorway, which is important throughout Germany, collapsed onto a huge drop bed.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and his NRW counterpart Oliver Krischer (Greens) followed the spectacular action on site. The bridge has been fully closed for 17 months - with serious consequences. It is also a political issue and has become a symbol of the dilapidated infrastructure in many places in Germany.
At noon on Sunday, demolition master Michael Schneider detonated the explosive charge at 12:00 noon. Around 150 kilograms of explosives caused the bridge piers to collapse. The 450-meter-long structure collapsed to the ground. "It couldn't have gone any better," Schneider said on WDR television. The buildings directly below the viaduct made it particularly difficult to blast on one of the most well-known construction sites in Germany.
According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, the demolition means a "milestone" on the way to a new building as quickly as possible. The project is at the top of the list of priorities.
The important traffic axis Dortmund - Frankfurt has been interrupted since the bridge closure on December 2, 2021. The surrounding region, which is also economically significant, has been hit hard by traffic jams, noise and exhaust pollution, stagnant delivery traffic, brain drain and loss of sales.
In Lüdenscheid, citizens were able to watch the explosion in a public viewing in the city center. WDR also showed the action live. Dpa