Load test in Bad Schandau faster than planned

The load test on the closed Bad Schandau Elbe bridge is progressing faster than planned. The final stage of the experiment should be completed by early evening, as Lars Roßmann, Head of the Civil Engineering and Innovation Department at the State Office for Road Construction and Transport, said. The penultimate load stage four was already completed before the lunch break with a measurement run of the heavy load module. Test drives were also originally planned for Thursday.

The load test is intended to determine whether it is possible to partially open the bridge for cars and light trucks up to 7.5 tons. Local buses and other heavier vehicles, such as refuse collection vehicles, could then also drive across the bridge with special permission using traffic lights. A final decision on this is to be made no later than three weeks after the end of the trial.

Bridge closed since November

The Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau was unexpectedly closed to all traffic on November 7 for safety reasons. Shipping traffic can now pass again without restriction. This was preceded by a special inspection following the partial collapse of Dresden's Carola Bridge.

Henningsdorf prestressing steel is used in both structures. As the bridge in Bad Schandau was built immediately after the Carola Bridge using a similar construction method, it is similarly at risk of stress corrosion cracking, which is considered to be the cause of the collapse in Dresden.