Deepening in the Elbe - work on Carola Bridge delayed

Preparations for the demolition of the Carola Bridge have been delayed due to a depression in the Elbe. The so-called scour - comparable to a pothole in the river - was discovered last week and is three to four meters deep, as Simone Prüfer, Head of the Road and Civil Engineering Office, explained. This is exactly where the supports for the auxiliary pontoons should be located, which should give the two bridge trains that have not collapsed more stability for further work.

Scour must be filled in

Instead of starting to build the supporting structure this week as planned, the scour must now first be filled in. The construction road from Neustädter Ufer into the Elbe, which was built for the work, will also have an area in the water cleared in order to reduce the flow velocity and thus prevent the creation of new depressions in the Elbe. A steel structure will be placed over the hole so that construction vehicles can continue to pass.

The construction of the four heavy-duty support towers will follow next week. The pontoon parts required for this have already been delivered from the Czech Republic and are ready at Altstädter Ufer. From there, they will be lowered into the Elbe with the support towers in the coming week and driven under the joint of the two bridge sections still standing on the Neustadt side, as Prüfer explained.

"Still on track"

Despite the delay, the project is still on schedule overall, said Prüfer. "The time is being used to obtain all approvals." Prüfer does not believe that the goal of being able to excavate the middle sections of the bridge at the end of May is at risk. "We are still well on track to do everything on time."

The plan is to float out the middle sections lying over the river and dismantle them on the bank. This will be followed by the demolition of the remaining bridge sections on the other side of the navigation channel.

Bridge closed since parts collapsed in September

The western traffic section of the Carola Bridge collapsed unexpectedly on the night of 11 September 2024 over a length of around 100 meters. Since then, the two remaining trains of the GDR-era structure have been closed. Due to further prestressing steel fractures in the structure since the beginning of the year, there is now also an acute risk of collapse for the two still intact traffic lines.