The suffering of Lüdenscheid

By CORINNA BUDRAS, REINER BURGER, JONAS JANSEN, (Text) SARA WAGENER (Data) and FRANK RÖTH (Photos)

May 5, 2023 · The Rahmedetal Bridge has become a symbol of the catastrophic consequences of the renovation backlog in Germany. After its demolition on Sunday, a new bridge is to be built in record time.

It's only a few hundred meters before René Jarackas is at home. But because you can't know how long you'll be stuck in the detour traffic jam in Lüdenscheid, Jarackas sent his daughter on foot. "My father is standing down there with the car, asking for a little patience. You can see the madness here," the teenager shouts into the noise of the trucks, which are struggling bumper to bumper uphill at a triple pace. On the tarpaulins and container walls of the colossi with license plates from all over Europe, there are happy marketing messages that read like mockery in Lüdenscheid: "Logistics lived by people", "Friend on the Road" or "Improving your Life".

A good year and a half ago, the bridge of the Autobahn 45, which spans the Rahmedetal in Lüdenscheid, had to be closed. With immediate effect, without any warning. The fact that the structure is a problem case was known to the engineers for a long time. But other bridges seemed even more dilapidated, which is why the new construction, which had been planned since 2014, was postponed again and again. There are more than 45 bridges on the A60, also known as the Sauerland line – Germany's first mountain motorway – all of which need to be renovated or rebuilt.

The Rahmede Viaduct was completed in 1968. It has been completely blocked for a year and a half.

December 2, 2021 was a fateful day for an entire region. On that Thursday, a building inspection took place to prepare the new building planning. A routine appointment, actually. But then the inspectors found deformations in the steel structure that were so worrying that the responsible Autobahn GmbH immediately closed the bridge. It is to be blown up next Sunday. This is the most important stage on the way to the long-awaited new building – but by no means the end of the unspeakable endurance test.

The decision of the federal authority of 2 December 2021 abruptly changed life in Lüdenscheid and far beyond the city. The A45 is one of Germany's central transport axes – it connects the Ruhr area with the Rhine-Main region. Before its closure, around 15,850 trucks and 48,000 cars crossed the bridge on weekdays, which now have to be diverted. Between the North and Central exits, the central alternative route leads directly through the extensive Lüdenscheid, which is characterized by hills and valleys. For a year and a half, the city's 71,000 inhabitants have been experiencing a traffic disaster: since then, their lives have been dominated by noise and dirt. Even trips to work or the supermarket are no longer possible without detailed pre-planning.

Around 6500 trucks thunder through the city every day – even at night.

Companies are also suffering enormously. They see their supply chains threatened. The economic damage is horrendous. The valley crossing in South Westphalia has long since become a symbol beyond the borders of Germany for how great the need for renovation is, especially in the west of Germany - and what effects it has. The Rahmetal Bridge is the memorial to Germany's crumbling infrastructure. Less than a week after the closure of the bridge, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) took office. Since then, the matter has not left him alone. Because a new Lüdenscheid could be added at any time. There are 40,000 bridges in Germany and a first "bridge balance" three months later painted a disturbing picture: 4000 of them are "in need of modernization". That is 2700 more buildings than previously known. If there is to be no traffic collapse, Germany must change course as soon as possible.

A huge renovation backlog has built up: Most of the bridges in the motorway and federal road network in the old federal states, like the Rahmedetal bridge, date from the period between 1960 and 1980. Groundbreaking inventions in prestressed concrete construction made material savings possible, which is why construction was carried out only with low static reserves. Freight traffic has more than doubled since 1980, trucks have become heavier and heavier, so the damage to the bridges has become greater and more dangerous. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, there are 873 motorway bridges in need of renovation, for which the federal government is responsible, in addition to around 300 dilapidated bridges that the state has to upgrade.

On its website, Autobahn GmbH lists 73 bridge projects that are being planned or implemented. Structures such as the Rosenstein Bridge in Stuttgart, which are not part of a motorway, are also being added. But they are also essential components of the infrastructure: With the Rosenstein Bridge, for example, the access road to the largest district of Bad Cannstatt has been closed to all traffic except pedestrians and cyclists since 2022.

The Winningen Moselle Valley Bridge is also no longer allowed to be used by large-capacity and heavy transports, although it currently serves as a diversion for traffic on the A 45. The Mühlenfließbrücke, Brandenburg's longest bridge, was repeatedly closed and the speed was limited to 20 km/h. Temporary renovations were intended to stabilize the building from 1936 until the new building, but could not withstand the traffic either. The list could be continued, especially with structures from the vicinity of Rahmede: 33 of the bridge projects of Autobahn GmbH are located in the regions of West and Westphalia.

  • The 742-metre-long mill flow bridge is expected to be replaced by a new bridge from 2025. Due to congestion, there are repeated closures. Photo: Picture Alliance
  • The new bridge at Burgweinting in the south-east of Regensburg has to bridge 23 Deutsche Bahn tracks, among other things. Photo: Autobahn GmbH
  • The Rosenstein Bridge in Stuttgart's Bad Cannstatt district can only be crossed on foot or by bike. Photo: dpa
  • The Feching viaduct is a listed building, but must be demolished and replaced. In the meantime, it was completely blocked. Photo: Picture Alliance
  • In order to be able to maintain traffic on the Thalaubach Bridge, it had to be strengthened. The new building is to be 312 meters long. Photo: Autobahn GmbH
  • The overpass of the B 466 near Mühlhausen im Täle is small, but is used by about 68,000 vehicles per hour. Before demolition, a temporary bridge will be built. Photo: Autobahn GmbH
  • Due to cracks, speed limits apply on the Moselle Valley Bridge, distance requirements and heavy transports have been banned. Construction measures are still unclear. Photo: dpa
  • The renovations at the Bad-Neuenahr-Ahrweiler junction did not begin until 2023 due to the Ahr valley flood and are expected to run until 2025. Photo: Autobahn GmbH
  • The Rhine bridge in the north of Bonn is officially called the Friedrich Ebert Bridge and will initially be renovated before it is to be completely replaced from 2034. Photo: picture alliance / Goldmann
  • The bridge at the Reinfeld junction has been undergoing renovation since January 2023, and construction work is scheduled for completion this year. Photo: dpa
  • On the A1 near Wuppertal, the bridge from 1960 has to be replaced. It is passed by over 90,000 vehicles every day. Photo: Autobahn GmbH


Because not only the money, but also the planners are scarce, it will not work without prioritizations like on the Sauerland line. At the same time, this means that, as in the case of the Rahmede Viaduct, decisions can always be made that prove to be wrong in retrospect.

The dirt of the street covers the window sills.

The burden on people like the Jarackas is unspeakable. Her house is located on the 8.2-kilometre-long bypass route for the A45 motorway through Lüdenscheid. In the past, too, there were always long traffic jams on it – which, of course, quickly dissipated when the motorway was reopened after an accident. For a year and a half now, the state of emergency has been part of everyday life for the people of Lüdenscheid - at least until the end of 2026, when it is really possible to build the new bridge according to German standards in record time. "This small, steep street in front of my house – that's been the highway for as long as it lasts," says René Jarackas when he finally makes it to his garage. Honking its horn, a truck pushes past.

Long-distance diversions lead a large part of long-distance traffic to other motorways. Nevertheless, 20,000 vehicles are still struggling every day, including 6500 heavy trucks on the bypass route across Lüdenscheid – and less than five meters away past Jaracka's house. Day and night. "This is where my wife cleaned at the beginning of the week," says Jarackas, wiping a windowsill with a wet wipe. Soot black is his handprint. "The truck drivers, they're poor pigs themselves," Jarackas thought when the nightmare began almost 17 months ago. That soon changed. At night, when the traffic flows to some extent, hardly anyone adheres to the prescribed speed limit of 30 km/h. "They see the sign 'noise protection' as a provocation, give extra gas, rush through the potholes at 70 km/h, so that the walls wobble." Every evening, Jarackas installs a frame filled with insulating wool from the inside of the bedroom windows. "Otherwise we wouldn't be able to sleep a wink." Many truck drivers simply threw all their garbage out of the window, urinated in the front yards. "We've even had a plastic bag of droppings hanging in the tree."

"They see the reference to 'noise protection' as a provocation."

RENÈ JARACKAS

While Transport Minister Wissing describes the blowing up of the dilapidated Rahmedetal bridge as a "milestone", Jarackas and his comrades-in-arms from the "A45 Citizens' Initiative" see no reason for optimism. "This may be a nice date for politicians, but nothing will change for us for the time being. Noise and particulate matter make you sick," says spokesman Heiko Schürfeld. "What we need is finally a ban on trucks that also includes the bypass." However, this will only be possible when the main road under the bridge, a good two kilometres from Jarackas' house, is passable again. The Rahmedetal is currently closed because a construction company has built a bed from enormous amounts of soil, into which the bridge debris is to fall precisely on Sunday at 12 noon sharp.

René Jarackas has drastically changed his mind about long-distance drivers.

Under no circumstances must the bridge tip to the side after it has been blown up, otherwise it will destroy the nearby houses. It must also not slip off, which is why the drop bed is so spacious. The 70-metre-high and 435-metre-long bridges make the demolition special, but Michael Schneider is one of the most experienced demolition masters in the country. On the A45, he recently dropped the Eisern and Rinsdorf viaducts, and the Sterbecke viaduct is only a few kilometres away after Rahmede. Schneider himself describes this as a "string of pearls". Thousands of onlookers are expected to attend the explosive spectacle – Wissing also wants to come.

Even when the Sauerland line was created, it was a political issue. When its last section was completed in October 1971, Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt (SPD) came to the ceremonial opening and praised the beautiful day, "which reminds us that we are working on many paths and will continue to move forward together on many paths for this Federal Republic of ours and for our German people". The F.A.Z. wrote that rarely has a motorway been showered with superlatives as much as the A45, because the ADAC praises it as the "beauty queen among the motorways", others speak of a new "dream road of tourism" or a "slide into weekend recreation". The Sauerland line, with its 189 kilometres, serves to relieve the old Rhenish motorway from Düsseldorf via Cologne to Frankfurt and is the first motorway in which structural policy considerations play a central role. The plan worked. The Sauerland developed at a rapid pace. Small businesses rose to become large companies, some even world market leaders. South Westphalia was also able to become the third strongest economic region thanks to the Sauerland line.

All the more catastrophic is the complete closure of the bridge. Former location advantages suddenly became a disadvantage: restaurateurs and retailers suffer from the fact that customers stay away. Due to long detours, industrial companies lose orders or they are less worthwhile because the costs increase, both for transport and for the overtime of the employees. Kugel-Strahltechnik GmbH from Hagen has most of its customers south of the bridge in Plettenberg, where the forging companies that process the supplier's material are located. "I can't even blame them for reorienting themselves if, for example, they lose two hours a day for a transport," complains Managing Director Marco Heinemann.

With sarcasm against the rush of trucks: This is how the people of Lüdenscheid try to keep their driveway clear.

Local companies are also worried about their personnel development, and many potential applicants are already turning down because the stress of the bridge and the resulting detours is too great for them. In an open letter to Wissing and Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), 42 local entrepreneurs vented their anger: The strongest industrial region in North Rhine-Westphalia was being "fundamentally weakened in its competitiveness and robbed of its future prospects," they wrote. The South Westphalian Chamber of Industry and Commerce expects additional annual costs of 230 million euros due to traffic delays alone. According to a study by the German Economic Institute (IW), the economic damage caused by the bridge closure will add up to at least 1.8 billion euros in five years.

Politicians are aware of the extent and potential of the debacle. Many politicians have come to Lüdenscheid in recent months, including from faraway Berlin. In August, Wissing stood under the closed bridge with local politicians and the head of the Autobahn GmbH and looked at the monumental structure with concern. The FDP politician wants to set an example with the Rahmedetal bridge. The project is intended to become a symbol of a restructuring awakening – and thus help to put an end to the constant gossip about the sluggishly slow German administration, the endless approval procedures, the countless objections from various interest groups.

Even in the first part of the undertaking – the demolition – this only worked reasonably well. Actually, the date was set for mid-December, but five months later the time has come. Reconstruction is scheduled to take two and a half years, including evacuation. The bridge is not intended to be a classic "replacement", that would mean repeating the mistakes of the sixties. Rather, it is a modern structure expanded to six lanes that can cope with the ever-growing number of vehicles. In the next 28 years alone, Wissing expects a further increase in truck traffic of 54 percent.

It is a coincidence that in the week of all days, the "Act to Accelerate Approval Procedures in the Transport Sector" cleared the decisive hurdle in the cabinet, at the end of which the old Rahmede Viaduct will be blown up. After months of dispute, the SPD, FDP and Greens have agreed on a compromise that should lead to bridges and railway lines being built more quickly in the future and bottlenecks due to a lack of motorway routes being eliminated more quickly. Here, too, Wissing uses the example of the viaduct to underline the urgency of his project.

Heike Sieling-Laudien actually wanted to close her shop after the bridge was closed.

"In the morning we still had customers, then suddenly no one came."

HEIKE SIELING-LAUDIEN, Dealer

Heike Sieling-Laudien remembers the day of the lockdown with horror. At the detour route, she continued to run a specialist shop for fishing supplies set up by her father. "In the morning we still had customers, then suddenly no one came." When the first shops in the neighbourhood closed a few weeks later, Sieling-Laudien also thought of giving up. "If my daughter hadn't been strictly against it, I would have done it." For a while, the businesswoman kept her head above water with online trading. It's only since she moved the "Angellädchen Laudien" to the other corner of Lüdenscheid that things have started to pick up again – also because her customers are so loyal. "They come from all over the Sauerland, many have to take long detours. It won't be good until the new bridge is in place."

Mayor Sebastian Wagemeyer is looking forward to the demolition of the Rahmedetal bridge on Sunday.

Mayor Sebastian Wagemeyer (SPD) is nevertheless convinced that the demolition on Sunday is a psychologically all the more important milestone. "Because this is the important sign for everyone that things are finally moving forward. Lüdenscheid must become a symbol of the fact that you can build a bridge in Germany much faster than everyone thinks."

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