As of: March 27, 2024, 7:01 a.m
By: Robin Dittrich
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A container ship rammed a bridge in Baltimore (USA) and caused it to collapse.
An expert comments on the danger in Germany.
Baltimore – The container ship “Dali” rammed the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning (March 26).
Cars fell into the water and some people are still missing.
Container ships of this type also operate in Germany - is such a tragic scenario likely here too?
Ship causes bridge in Baltimore to collapse – expert comments on the danger in Germany
The bridge rammed by the container ship “Dali” was a four-lane car bridge.
This was almost completely collapsed by the accident.
In an interview with the
German Press Agency (dpa),
expert Professor Josef Hegger from the Chair and Institute for Concrete Construction at RWTH Aachen University spoke about the possibility of such an incident in Germany.
The expert stated that such a scenario is considered very unlikely in Germany.
A collision caused a bridge to collapse - can that also happen in Germany?
© picture alliance/dpa/PA Media |
Harford County, Md Volunteer Fir
The main reason for this is that several safety measures must be taken when building bridges over waterways.
“The pillar must have a certain level of resilience so that it does not collapse with a slight impact,” explained Hegger.
The pillars on shipping routes must withstand a certain impact load.
As the expert explains, these can be imagined as a kind of guardrail like on the highway, which are intended to prevent an impact.
Bridges in Germany are built to prevent collisions
According to the expert, many bridges in Germany were designed in such a way that a collision between a ship and bridge pillars cannot occur in the first place.
“In the Rhine bridges, the large pillars and pylons are often arranged at the edge of the river, so that the river opening is completely free.
If there is a pylon in the middle, it is relatively massive and wedge-shaped and would, so to speak, distract a ship that drives against it,” said Heggler.
On other bridges, such as those over the Kiel Canal, the pillars are also arranged on the outside so as not to get in the way of traffic on the water.
The expert states that “the ships would be more likely to run aground there before they hit the pillar with full force.” A spokesman for the federal Autobahn GmbH also said that “we have a very, very high level of protection for all motorway bridges over waterways In principle, such an incident can of course never be completely ruled out.
(
rd/dpa
)