The problem is not new and is being worked on. Nevertheless, thousands of motorway bridges still require repair.
The new federal motorway company has asked for more money for the renovation of ailing motorway bridges.
“Around 3,000 bridges are in an insufficient and unsatisfactory condition,” said the managing director of Autobahn GmbH, Stephan Krenz, of “Welt am Sonntag”. That is more than ten percent of the approximately 27,000 motorway bridges.
Krenz demanded additional funds and a change in planning law. “We need significantly more money for the renovation of the motorway bridges.” So far, around one billion euros are available per year. And: “We have to become significantly faster, for that we need simplified building permits for replacement new buildings,” said the Autobahn boss.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Transport said on request on Sunday that the security of the infrastructure had the highest priority. “We keep a close eye on the motorway bridges in Germany.” The bridge Tüv is a very good means of getting an exact picture. Autobahn GmbH is currently creating a nationwide overview of the state of the bridges. Such a cross-border view had never existed before.
Building on this, a priority will be given and a decision will be made as to where to renovate first. This year alone, a total of around 1.5 billion euros would be available for maintaining bridges on federal trunk roads. These funds should increase in the next few years. “It will not fail because of the money,” said the spokeswoman.
According to the ministry, the proportion of bridges that require maintenance has already been reduced: from 13.1 percent in 2015 to 11.6 percent in 2020. The aim of the bridge modernization program is also to support larger projects with a construction volume of more than five Million euros to accelerate.
According to Autobahn boss Krenz, the ailing infrastructure runs through the whole country. “The assessment of the condition of the bridges was previously a matter of the country – it was handled differently,” he said. Overall, there is an east-west divide. In the east many bridges are newer, in the west the condition is often worse.
Since January, the Autobahn-Gesellschaft has been responsible for the planning, construction and operation of all motorways in Germany. The motorways belonged to the federal government before that. However, construction and operation were the responsibility of the federal states. With the realignment, construction companies should have the same contact person, tenders and rules should be standardized, projects should be planned from a single source. It’s about a motorway network of 13,000 kilometers.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
