In the process of the fatal collapse of a shoring during the construction of a motorway bridge in Bavaria in 2016, an accused structural engineer rejected the allegations. The engineer was responsible for a local company with the planning of the scaffolding on the bridge on the A7 at Werneck in Lower Franconia entrusted.
He argued at the beginning of the process started at the district court of Schweinfurt, that the contracting construction companies had not kept to his plans. If this had happened, the scaffolding would not have collapsed.
The prosecutor accuses the man of negligent homicide and negligent assault in 14 cases. The collapse of the shoring and parts of the Schraudenbach valley bridge under construction on 15 June 2016 had killed a Croatian construction worker. 14 other people were seriously injured.
Also accused are two other engineers who are accused of errors in the acceptance of the plans. The process is likely to drag on because of the complex issue. A judgment is not expected before February 2020.
According to an expert's report published in 2017, a scaffold support was no longer able to withstand the weight of the bridge structure, causing the shoring to collapse. "When the documents were analyzed, there were indications that the statics and detailed design did not agree with regard to certain connections." According to the expert's report, the inappropriate construction of these connections is to be regarded as the primary cause of the collapse, "police and prosecutors said at the time.