The city of Dresden has commissioned Hentschke Bau GmbH to demolish the parts of the Carola Bridge that are still standing. The company will demolish bridge sections A and B, according to a statement. According to the statement, this decision was already made on Friday.
The company, based in Bautzen, had reportedly submitted an unsolicited offer that envisaged a safe and quick demolition with minimal restrictions for shipping.
City of Dresden relies on experienced company
Hentschke Bau has already been involved in work on Dresden's Elbe bridges on several occasions, including the last major renovation work on the Carola Bridge before its partial collapse last September, according to the city.
"The company is therefore very familiar with this structure," the press release states. Last December, Hentschke Bau also carried out the demolition of the B101 bridge in the south of Großenhain.
After consultation with the company, preparations are underway for the demolition to begin as soon as possible. The area is to be searched for explosive ordnance in advance, for which the city has also commissioned a company. In addition, the navigation channel for shipping traffic in the Elbe will continue to be cleared.
Fractured prestressing steel poses an acute risk of collapse
In the past week, several fractures in prestressing steel were discovered in the two bridge sections still standing - five of them on the joint pier alone. Since then, the structure has been considered to be in acute danger of collapse and the approval for commercial shipping traffic with advance notification has been withdrawn.
The city announced on Friday that it would not be issuing a tender due to the deteriorated condition and would award the contract for the demolition directly to a company.
According to reports, no further wire breaks have been detected in the last few days, which is why ships have been able to obtain a permit for urgent passages by appointment since Monday.
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