Norderelbbrücke dilapidated: must last six years longer!

Norderelbbrücke dilapidated: must last six years longer!

The Norderelbbrücke, an important traffic junction of the A1 motorway near Hamburg, is on the verge of collapse. After a current examination, the bridge received an alarming state grade of "insufficient". This grade means that the infrastructure, which was built in 1963, has to hold out for at least six more years until a new building can be realized.

The first construction work for the new bridge is to begin in 2026, but many hurdles have to be overcome before the plans can be implemented into reality. According to information from the Federal Project Society Deges, one strives to start the first lead measures in 2025. The schedule stipulates that the traffic is expected to flow over the new bridge in 2029 or 2030.

analyzes and problems of the existing bridge

A detailed examination of the Norderelbbrücke showed numerous defects. In particular, cracks in welds and steel parts were discovered, which led to a temporary block for heavy load transports of over 40 tons. This block was imposed on September 11th, at the same time as the tragic collapse of the Carol Bridge in Dresden, which, according to the spokesman for the Autobahngesellschaft, was a coincidence.

The Norderelbbrücke was subjected to a comprehensive analysis that indicates a serious problem. The condition of the bridge is so serious that its building was impaired as significantly or sometimes no longer classified, which led to the bad note. This forces the authorities to check the bridge at shorter intervals, especially since around 136,000 vehicles use the bridge every day, including a steadily increasing proportion of trucks.

The flow of traffic on the bridge could further tighten in the coming years: for 2030, a traffic load of up to 160,000 vehicles will be forecast every day. This Situation underlines urgency to modernize the ailing infrastructure promptly.

It should also be noted that special permits are missing in order to progress with the building law for the new bridge. The planning approval, which will be sought for mid -2026, could be delayed by complaints from environmental associations and other interest groups. Already after the planning documents were published, there were over 20 objections, which made it difficult to implement the new building.

for a detailed insight into the results of the examination and the resulting measures, see the report on www.stern.de .