Traffic
Citizens group: Rahmede demolition “Milestone”
The structure is up to 70 meters high and weighs 17,000 tons. photo
© Dieter Menne/dpa
Today the Rahmede viaduct in Lüdenscheid is to be blown up. The disaster surrounding the dilapidated building in North Rhine-Westphalia made a lot of headlines. But that may not solve the problem.
The planned demolition of the Rahmede motorway bridge on Sunday afternoon in Sauerland is an “important milestone” from the point of view of the A45 Lüdenscheid citizens’ initiative. For the people who have been severely affected by the full bridge closure that has been in place since December 2021, the demolition of the blast means “a first visible sign of progress after 17 months of standstill,” said the spokesman for the initiative, Heiko Schürfeld, of the German Press Agency shortly before the nationwide action. “For us, however, today is not a day to celebrate, because the problems in the region have not been solved with the blown up bridge.”
The spokesman emphasized: “The burdens on citizens, companies and especially the health burdens on direct residents continue unabated.” There is therefore a need for a ban on the passage of heavy trucks, thousands of which thunder through Lüdenscheid on the detour routes every day. “Furthermore, we are calling on politicians to finally act together, to create the legal basis for further rapid bridge projects and to push ahead with the construction of the new bridge effectively and quickly.”
The structure, which is up to 70 meters high and weighs 17,000 tons, is expected to fall into a gigantic fall bed at noon. Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and NRW Transport Minister Oliver Krischer (Greens) want to follow the action on site. The bridge has been completely closed since December 2, 2021 due to the risk of collapse, and the important north-south axis between Frankfurt and Dortmund has been interrupted. The people in Lüdenscheid and the entire region suffer from traffic jam chaos, noise and exhaust emissions, slow delivery traffic, emigration of skilled workers and loss of sales.