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Pillar of the ailing Rahmede viaduct: this part of the A45 has been closed for months due to damage
Photo: Markus Klümper / dpa
A few weeks ago, the Rahmede viaduct involuntarily became a symbol of the ailing German motorway infrastructure.
This dilapidated part of Autobahn 45 from 1968 has to be closed for months, and since then it has been regularly jammed for kilometers on the »lifeline of South Westphalia« - and, like you, other bridges could soon be felt.
The federal highway company is fighting against it.
In the coming year she wants to focus in particular on the renovation of bridges.
"We have to double the number of bridges to be renewed annually from 200 to 400," said the CEO of Autobahn GmbH Stephan Krenz of the dpa news agency.
The Autobahn GmbH wants to promote the maintenance, renovation and renewal of the motorway bridges in the entire network and has set up a "bridge task force", said Krenz.
For drivers, that should mean: even more construction sites, even more traffic jams.
Half of 28,000 motorway bridges have to be rehabilitated
Around half of the more than 28,000 motorway bridges in Germany, like the Rahmede viaduct, were built between the sixties and eighties. According to Autobahn GmbH, they will reach the end of their lifespan in the coming years. At the same time, traffic on the motorways has almost doubled since the early 1980s. Above all, the proportion of heavy goods traffic as well as large-capacity and heavy goods transport has increased significantly.
Krenz also spoke of a successful first year for the Autobahn GmbH.
In the first year of operation, 4.92 billion euros were invested in the maintenance and expansion of the federal highways.
This sum is almost at the same level as the previous year in all federal states.
Around 5000 planning and construction projects have been worked on.
Around 275,000 invoices have been posted.
In a short time it was possible to cope with considerable tasks.
The federal government has been responsible for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the motorways since 2021, previously it was the states.
The aim of the major reform: build faster and less traffic jams.
It is unclear whether the motorway company will succeed in implementing the ambitious plans to renovate the bridges.
Most recently, the company had to contend with a wave of layoffs.
In addition to commencing construction, operation, administration, maintenance and financing of the motorway network, Autobahn GmbH has started “significant future projects” for more security, service and construction acceleration, said Krenz.
He referred, for example, to the opening of a pilot facility for modern rest areas.
There had been repeated criticism of the new motorway company, for example because the costs had risen or there were delays in IT systems.
Actually, the German Unity Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau GmbH was supposed to be integrated into the Autobahn GmbH - but this was stopped in view of legal concerns.
apr / dpa
