450 meters long. 70 meters high. 17,000 tons heavy. This is the colossus in numbers. 150 kilograms of explosives are supposed to bring down the dilapidated Rahmedetal Bridge near Lüdenscheid. Not a routine appointment for the blaster either.
If everything goes well, the Rahmedetalbrücke will collapse vertically on Sunday. “We don’t have a meter of space,” says explosives expert Michael Schneider, meaning that the bridge must not tilt to the side during the blast. Because almost directly below her are houses that must not be damaged.
The Rahmedetal Bridge is located near Lüdenscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia. The structure is gigantic – it is 70 meters high and almost half a kilometer long. A 17,000-ton colossus made of concrete and steel. 150 kilograms of explosives are supposed to bring down the bridge pillars.
Demolition expert Michael Schneider observes the processes of detonating a viaduct on a monitor.
“A Special Pressure”
The bridge has been completely closed to traffic since the end of 2021 due to damage. As a result, the A45 is interrupted, this so-called Sauerland line connects the Ruhr area with the Frankfurt area. The detour traffic burdens the residents and the economy in Lüdenscheid and the entire region. Congestion chaos, sluggish delivery traffic, emigration of skilled workers and loss of sales are the result. Thousands of trucks thunder through the city every day, according to the A45 citizens’ initiative, causing permanent noise and exhaust emissions as well as massive sleep disturbances for residents on the detour routes.
In order for a new building to be built by the end of 2026, Michael Schneider has to blast away the old bridge properly. The experienced explosives expert should be a little more tense than usual on Sunday – because of the media hype on site and because of the high level of precision that is required: “Of course it’s a special pressure, you don’t need to beat around the bush.”
Blasting work “with a certain monkey love”
“Three, two, one – ignition!” – with this command, Schneider has brought down many a bridge. “I have to be honest, I didn’t count,” he says, but it must have been around 30. It has also brought down many other structures, including a ski jump in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
He has been in the “explosive job” for more than 40 years now, says the 62-year-old, and he is still enthusiastic about his work, he does it “with a certain monkey love”. “There is not a single blast that is like the other,” says the blaster about his job.
Sea containers form a kind of protective wall against the surrounding houses.
“The environment is second to none”
On Sunday at 12 o’clock he has to bring about 17,000 tons of steel and concrete down – with the utmost precision. Sea containers were stacked on top of each other in front of the surrounding houses, forming a kind of protective wall.
“The environment that we have here is second to none,” says Demolitionist Schneider, looking at the buildings below the Rahmedetal Bridge. Nevertheless, he is convinced that everything will go smoothly: “If I didn’t trust our blast, I wouldn’t do it.”
Political explosive
The whole thing also contains political explosives. In the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament, a committee of inquiry into the traffic misery surrounding the dilapidated Rahmede viaduct on the A45 officially began its work. Above all, he should examine the circumstances of the postponed new construction of the viaduct. The opposition also wants to take a close look at the role of the former NRW Transport Minister and current Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). Wüst had denied personal failings from his tenure.
Dilapidated bridges
Not only the Rahmede Bridge from the 1960s urgently needs to be renewed, the next problems in the road area are already waiting for a renovation. According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, 4,500 bridges have to be renovated nationwide. On the A45 alone, 60 viaducts have to be renewed. According to construction experts, half of the 25 tallest bridges are in critical condition. These included the two sections of the Kochertalbrücke, the Moselletalbrücke, the Lösterbachtalbrücke and the Neckarburgbrücke, bridge constructions from the 1970s and earlier.