"Danger to life"
Automatically saved design
In the eastern German city of Dresden, part of the Carola Bridge collapsed into the River Elbe on Wednesday night. The collapse affected the pedestrian and cycle path as well as the streetcar tracks, a spokesperson for the situation center announced in the morning. The fire department speaks of an "acute risk of collapse".
According to the Dresden fire department, a length of 100 meters is involved. According to the information, there is a strong leakage of hot water from the bridgehead on the Old Town side. The Carola Bridge was built in the 1960s by the communist GDR regime.
Dresden's public transport company said that there was no streetcar on the bridge. Passengers and vehicles were therefore not harmed. Lines 3 and 7 run there every hour on weekdays, even at night.
Narrowly avoiding disaster
The city has narrowly escaped a catastrophe. Every day, countless cars, streetcars and cyclists drive over the structure, which is one of the city's four Elbe bridges. There are also pedestrians on the bridge, but as far as the authorities know, there were no injuries or even fatalities when it collapsed.
Fire department warns: "Acute risk of collapse"
The fire department currently assumes that there is an acute risk of collapse. "We expect that further parts of the bridge could collapse," said a spokesperson at the scene on Wednesday morning. He called on people to stay as far away from the bridge as possible. "There is a danger to life" on and near the bridge, he said. A drone squadron is currently being deployed to investigate the extent of the damage, he said.
The southern half of the bridge, which spans the Terrassenufer road and a section of the Elbe, is affected. According to the fire department, a gap about one meter long had formed at the bridgehead on the Old Town side. It is not yet clear how parts of the bridge came loose at around 3 am.
No evidence of outside influence
The police initially assumed that it was an accident. There are no indications of outside influence so far, said a spokesperson. Police officers were among the first on the scene when parts of the bridge fell into the Elbe in the middle of the night. The officers were on duty nearby as object protectors and initially heard the noise of the collapsing bridge sections, it was said.
District heating failed throughout the city
District heating pipes were also damaged in the collapse. "District heating is currently out throughout the city," the fire department announced. Due to the water flowing out of the pipes, parts of the Terrassenufer are completely under water.
The Carola Bridge is one of the most important traffic bridges in Dresden. The area was cordoned off extensively. "We ask the public to avoid the area as far as possible and not to obstruct the emergency services," asked a fire department spokesperson.
Experts are investigating the situation
"Experts from the individual trades, the city administration and all partners involved are currently meeting to discuss the next steps," said the fire department.
The collapsed bridge should be repaired next year. Other parts of the bridge were only opened to traffic in March after months of renovation, the city of Dresden writes on its website.
The renovation of the middle bridge span was completed at the beginning of June with the installation of the railings. The construction costs amounted to around 4.1 million euros. The refurbishment of the third bridge span, the eastern one, was completed in June 2021.
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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