Bridge Rahmede on A45 will be blown up in May

The dilapidated Rahmede valley bridge on the Germany-wide important Autobahn 45 near Lüdenscheid (North Rhine-Westphalia) is to be blown up on May 7th. This was announced by Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) on Tuesday. The structure was closed in December 2021, and a central north-south axis (Frankfurt-Dortmund) has since been interrupted.

The consequences for the region are serious. Wissing had originally announced a demolition in 2022, but that did not happen. May 7th has now been set as the new date – a blast should help speed up the major project. Wissing spoke of important and good news for the region.

Since December 2, 2021, the 450 meter long and more than 70 meter high motorway bridge on the so-called Sauerland line has been completely closed. Every day, around 20,000 additional vehicles, including around 6,000 trucks, thunder through Lüdenscheid via detour routes. Residents and companies in the region are heavily burdened by noise, exhaust fumes and permanent traffic jams. They have also been hit hard by supply problems, slumps in sales and labor migration. A blasting date was expected with excitement and growing impatience, especially in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Wissing said that he could not currently name a binding construction time, i.e. could not specifically predict when traffic would roll again. But: The federal government will do everything to ensure that the new building is completed as quickly as possible.

Immediately after the closure, the federal government and the Autobahn GmbH of the federal government had promised a maximum accelerated new construction, at that time a period of five years was roughly mentioned. A blast and also the recently decided waiver of a planning approval procedure should contribute to an increased construction speed.

The blasting on almost alpine terrain is considered a huge challenge. The preparations under the bridge, including felling work and slope protection, have been going on for some time. Several plots of land under the building had also been bought. The contract for demolition blasting was awarded to Heitkamp Umwelttechnik GmbH in October. The pillars should buckle to the side during the blast, and the bridge should fall down horizontally.

State politics has also been dealing with the disaster for months. Shortly before Wissing's announcement on Tuesday, the opposition factions SPD and FDP decided to apply for the establishment of a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (PUA). The fact that there were defects on the Rahmede Bridge was known several years before the closure. Today's Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst (CDU), was NRW Minister of Transport from 2017 to October 2021.