Preparations for trial on Bad Schandau Elbe bridge

Preparations for the load test of the closed Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau are in full swing. "We are moving ahead diligently," said Stephan Berger, Head of the Mobility Department at the Ministry of Infrastructure. In order to be able to carry out the load test safely "and not sink the very expensive measurement technology into the Elbe", a large number of further measurements are necessary.

According to Berger, the first phase of the structural diagnostics with the removal of prestressing steel and drilling on the bridge has now been completed. Now phase two begins, in which the experts intensively monitor the behavior of the structure. Longitudinal and transverse inclinations, temperatures, crack widths and strains are currently being measured, as Berger explained.

Stability to be tested

The load test is still planned for April. The load-bearing capacity of the bridge is to be tested using autonomously moving heavy-duty modules with continuously increasing loads. This is expected to take two days, and if the results are positive, the bridge could be partially opened to traffic one to two weeks later, said bridge expert Steffen Marx from TU Dresden. Cars and light trucks up to 3.5 tons as well as special trips for buses could then pass - "a huge relief for the region", said Berger.

Bridge closed since November

The Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau was unexpectedly closed to all traffic on 7 November for safety reasons. This was preceded by a special inspection following the partial collapse of Dresden's Carola Bridge. Since Thursday, shipping traffic has been able to pass again without restriction. 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 so-called stress corrosion cracking, which is considered to be the cause of the collapse in Dresden.

Makeshift bridge at the beginning of 2026 at the earliest

Planning for a makeshift bridge continues, however. Different variants should be available by the beginning of March. Work on this is set to begin this year. The temporary bridge cannot be completed until early 2026 at the earliest.