Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau closed: Safety measure after special inspection

The Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau (B 172) will be closed with immediate effect. This was announced by the State Office for Road Construction and Transport in Dresden. The measure follows a special inspection of the bridge. Closure is required immediately due to a risk to the load-bearing capacity.

Prestressed concrete bridge to remain closed until the end of the year

"The measure is being carried out as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of all road users." The prestressed concrete bridge from 1977 will remain fully closed to all traffic until at least the end of the year.

"The full closure must remain in place until sufficient stability of the bridge structure can be proven with the necessary certainty on the basis of structural and material investigations using static calculations," the state office continued.

The bridge in Bad Schandau is a prestressed concrete bridge. As with the Carola Bridge in Dresden, Hennigsdorf prestressing steel was reportedly used, which is considered susceptible to corrosion and stress cracks. Part of the Carola Bridge, which is central to Dresden, collapsed on the night of September 11.

However, according to the state office, the structural systems of the two bridges are fundamentally different. Among other things, the bridge in Bad Schandau has no joints like the Carola Bridge.

As a result of the partial collapse of the Carola Bridge, a special inspection of the Elbe bridge in Bad Schandau took place on September 27. The inspection report was handed over to the state office on Wednesday.