After the first bang, nothing happened – just as planned. With a so-called deterrence blast, demolition master Michael Schneider scared away all birds that were still on the dilapidated Rahmedetal bridge of the A12 motorway shortly before 45 noon on Sunday. After 30 seconds, Schneider pressed the two triggers on his blasting computer at the same time. Then, as planned, the bridge went to its knees, and a thick, brown cloud of dust rose. In the city center of Lüdenscheid, where several thousand citizens had gathered at a safe distance for public viewing, cheers broke out.

Reiner Burger

Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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At the beginning of December 2021, the bridge had to be closed from one day to the next not only for trucks, but for all traffic. In contrast to previous inspections, engineers had found serious damage to the structure from the sixties. Since then, Lüdenscheid and the Sauerland have been severely affected by the noise and dirt of evasive traffic. Since the A 45 is one of Germany's central transport axes, companies far beyond North Rhine-Westphalia see their supply chains threatened; the economic damage is enormous.

Explosives staggered detonated

The Rahmedetal Bridge has become a symbol of the catastrophic consequences of the renovation backlog in Germany. Because a new Lüdenscheid could be added at any time. There are 40,000 bridges in Germany, and an initial "bridge balance" presented by Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) shortly after taking office was shocking. 4000 of them – and thus 2700 more than previously known – are "in need of modernization".

On Sunday, Wissing was in Lüdenscheid, as was North Rhine-Westphalian Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) to witness the explosion up close. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, the demolition of the bridge by demolition marks a "milestone" on the way to a new construction as quickly as possible. The project is at the top of the list of priorities.

The demolition was challenging. Because there are residential and commercial buildings in the valley in front of and behind the bridge, the experienced demolition master Michael Schneider only had a margin of one and a half meters on both sides. In order for the 453-metre-long roadway to fall vertically downwards, a so-called folding blasting took place, for which the explosives introduced into a total of 2035 boreholes were detonated in a staggered manner according to a pre-calculated pattern.

"It couldn't have gone any better"

Initially, the pillars collapsed like a folding rule, then the superstructure collapsed vertically into the drop bed, which had been piled up in recent weeks from around 100,000 cubic meters of soil in the steep valley under the bridge. To protect against the blast wave of the explosion and against the debris that could slide down the slope, the demolition team erected a wall of overseas containers loaded with earth and water containers.

Shortly after the blasting, the dust cloud had not yet cleared, the demolition master was relieved and highly satisfied. "The bridge really fell down exactly," Schneider said on WDR. "It couldn't have gone any better." It will now take until the beginning of June for the bridge debris to be cleared away from the valley. More than 90 percent of the material can be recycled.

Even though it will take several years before the new valley crossing is completed, the blasting (originally planned for December) is the first sign of hope for the region that things are really moving forward. It is not yet clear when exactly the new bridge can be opened to traffic. In Lüdenscheid, it is hoped that it will be ready by the end of 2026. One thing is certain: it will be faster than usual. Because the new building is classified as a replacement building, no planning approval procedure is necessary.

There is also a lot to do in the immediate vicinity: After blowing up the Rahmedetal bridge, demolition master Schneider and his team have to move only a few kilometers further to the next job. The Sterbecke Bridge is to be blown up shortly. On the A 45 alone, also known as the Sauerland line, there are more than 60 bridges – all of which need to be renewed. It will take at least until 2035 for the Sauerland line to be completely renovated.