It is well known that there is a great need for renovation of the bridges in NRW. After the Rahmedetalbrücke traffic artery on the A45 was suddenly completely closed, the explosive nature of the situation has become palpable for thousands of drivers and residents. New controls make you sit up and take notice.
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - Many bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia have an alarming need for renovation. This was the result of a current building inspection by the Landesbetrieb Straßen.NRW.
According to information from the German Press Agency, 296 bridges in North Rhine-Westphalia currently have a significant need for renovation: According to an internal template for the NRW Ministry of Transport, 205 new replacement buildings, 22 bridge reinforcements and 69 repairs are currently required to compensate for "deficits in load-bearing behavior".
The cost framework for the bridges on state roads alone is estimated at 1.25 billion euros. In addition, 873 partial bridge structures on motorways in NRW are particularly in need of renovation, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Transport.
Strassen.NRW has 6,422 bridges to look after, 3,838 of which are on state roads. In view of the lack of financial and human resources, it is worrying for the experts that the condition of many buildings in the renovation backlog will continue to deteriorate in the next few years.
A spokesman for the NRW Ministry of Transport initially did not want to comment on the figures available to the dpa. This Friday (10:00 a.m.) State Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) wants to provide information about the state of the bridge infrastructure in NRW during a visit to the Wipperbrücke Ohl on the B 256.
According to an internal report to the Ministry of Transport, about half of the bridges examined on both state and federal roads achieved a condition grade of 2.0 to 2.4 in the most recent structural inspection. This is rated as "satisfactory structural condition". Overall, around 77 percent of the bridges on state roads and around 83 percent of the bridges on federal roads are in the 1.0 to 2.4 range.
Only 0.2 percent of bridges on federal roads and 0.4 percent of bridges on state roads are rated 3.5 to 4.0, which is considered "poor structural condition. The condition of a further 2.1 percent of bridges on federal roads and 3, 9 percent of the bridges on state roads are classified as "inadequate".
In view of the foreseeable wave of urgent renovation work, the fact that the majority of the tested buildings are still in the green area cannot reassure the experts. The Rahmedetalbrücke on the A45 had been rated with the same grade of 3.0 (insufficient structural condition) for years before it suddenly had to be completely closed in December 2021 due to new alarming findings.
A large proportion of the bridges in NRW were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Many have long since left at least half of their calculated useful life behind. A further deterioration in their condition is foreseeable in view of the sharp increase in freight traffic with heavy trucks.
According to the internal template, 67 bridging measures with a financial volume of almost 100 million euros are to be completed this year in NRW. In the past year, 64 bridge measures on state and federal roads were completed in the form of replacement new constructions, maintenance and reinforcements with a total volume of a good 70 million euros. The NRW Ministry of Transport complains that the federal government only renovated 41 and thus less than half of the required number of motorway bridges in NRW last year.
