The Rahmedetal Bridge on the A45 in Sauerland is scheduled to be reopened this Monday, four years after it was closed. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder (both CDU) want to take part in the opening ceremony. The bridge, which was newly built for 170 million euros, will be opened to traffic around midday.
The planning and construction period took four years. “We can pace in Germany,” said Schnieder. Experts justified the relatively effective process by saying that all political decisions were made quickly due to high public pressure. In addition, the construction companies involved received bonus payments for quick construction.
The automobile club ADAC demanded that the pace of construction on the Rahmedetal Bridge should not remain an exception. “A construction period of between two and three years must be the benchmark for future bridge replacement structures,” said Roman Suthold, head of the transport and environment department at ADAC North Rhine-Westphalia. It is crucial that the state transfers the planning and construction of a project to a contractor who is then responsible for its implementation on time. “This integrated approach saves time, reduces costs and minimizes interface problems,” emphasized Suthold.
ADAC complains about dilapidated bridge infrastructure
This is also important because the pressure to renovate is immense given the dilapidated bridge infrastructure throughout North Rhine-Westphalia, said Suthold. “30 percent of the more than 6,000 motorway bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia are in need of renovation,” said the ADAC traffic expert. “The Rahmedetal Bridge was just the tip of the iceberg. Almost every tenth motorway bridge in North Rhine-Westphalia has already exceeded its planned service life and is in the intensive care unit.”
Thousands of German motorway bridges are in poor condition. Of the total of around 28,000 partial bridge structures in the German motorway network, around 3,000 were in an inadequate or insufficient condition in 2024. According to an analysis by the Federal Quality Association for the Repair of Concrete Structures, 43 motorway bridges with a length of more than 50 meters are in “insufficient” condition, which means that safety is significantly impaired or no longer exists.
Economic damage of around 1.5 billion
The Rahmedetal Bridge was closed due to the risk of collapse. The A45 is the only north-south axis connecting the region with the Ruhr area and Hesse. According to business associations, the lockdown had a significant impact on supply chains, with companies complaining about double-digit declines in sales. The German Economic Institute spoke of damage to companies in the region of around 1.5 billion euros.
During the lockdown, 20,000 cars and trucks a day drove along small bypasses through towns and residential areas. We are looking forward to a future “in which our region can breathe freely again,” said Mayor Sebastian Wagemeyer (SPD).
However, the work on the Rahmedetal Bridge is not yet completed. So far only the first half of the bridge is finished. A second part of the bridge is also being built. All work should be completed by the end of 2026.
