Shipping traffic near Bad Schandau to start in January

Commercial shipping should be able to pass the Bad Schandau Elbe bridge again in certain time windows from January. The State Office for Road Construction and Transport in Dresden announced that clearance for passage will be granted upon application to the Elbe Waterways and Shipping Office (WSA) with a time window for passage. This also applies to tourist ships.

Before this can happen, however, the current condition of the structure must be checked using the measuring systems that have been set up, it added. These systems are expected to go into operation at the beginning of January. The next step will then be to ensure that ships can pass under the Elbe bridge without any time restrictions.

The Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau has been closed since the beginning of November due to longitudinal cracks in the so-called lower span. Since then, ships have also not been allowed to pass under the bridge.