Dresden (Hafen)

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Tension steel of Carola Bridge broke again

The damaged and failing Carola Bridge briefly shut down inland shipping on the Elbe at Dresden on the night of Feb 26, the second time in five months that barge traffic has been halted by the risk of falling concrete and steel. On Sep 11, 2024, at about 3 a.m., two spans of the Carola Bridge had collapsed. A light-rail train had just gone by, but it was past and clear of the span, and no one was injured in the collapse. The bridge was one of four main crossings of the Elbe in downtown Dresden, and the loss of the span has been disruptive for businesses and for shipping interests, which use the Elbe to access upriver regions as far as the Czech Republic. The bridge was built 1967-71. It had been inspected properly and passed all routine exams. A post-accident study by the Institute of Concrete Structures at TU Dresden determined that the collapse was caused by hydrogen-induced stress corrosion of the bridge's steel components. This form of corrosion is nearly impossible to detect with conventional methods, the study concluded, as it affects steel elements that are hidden from view. The waterway was shut for four months for demolition and removal, a task made more challenging by the discovery of WWII-era bombs at the demolition site. Later testing revealed that the cause was hydrogen-induced stress corrosion. The surviving bridge spans have similar corrosion problems, and the surviving bridge spans will have to be completely demolished and rebuilt. To ensure safety of navigation in the interim, the city has installed acoustic monitoring systems. Every time the temperature fluctuates, it exerts stress on the surviving steel cables and raises the risk of another critical failure. The city has hired a contractor to complete the demolition of the rest of the bridge on an expedited basis, in hopes of finishing the job by the end of 2025. For now, ships are free to pass through during a limited two-hour slot from 9-11 a.m. each day. They must pre-register, and only necessary crew may be on board during the transit. Report with photo and video: https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/wirtschaft/carolabruecke-spannstahl-schifffahrt-dresden-100.html

Ship traffic on the Elbe suspended again at collapsed bridge in Dresden

Demolition work on the collapsed Carola bridge in the city of Dresden was suspended on Feb 18, 2025, after new fractures were discovered in the structure, with shipping traffic on the Elbe river also halted again. An installed acoustic emission monitoring system had detected steel fractures in two sections of the bridge that were not directly affected by its partial collapse on Sep 11, 2024,due to stress corrosion cracks caused by moisture in a section of the structure, leading to inland shipping traffic on the affected section of the Elbe being suspended for five months. The authoritieshad only reopened the passage under the bridge in central Dresden for inland commercial shipping three weeks ago, with free passage in a one-way system planned from Feb 18. However, the passage has been completely closed again since that morning after the measuring system installed to permanently monitor the collapsed bridge signalled movement. The authorities were now waiting for an engineering firm to assess whether the bridge will hold and whether ship traffic may be allowed to pass under it. The dredger 'Domarin' was meanwhile working on the fairway. Reports with photos: https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/dresden/dresden-radebeul/carolabruecke-durchfahrt-schiffe-elbe-sperrung-100.html https://www.dnn.de/lokales/dresden/carolabruecke-dresden-noch-mehr-schaeden-entdeckt-L2PS2IHRPBDKLPP5JWNNUUHEH4.html https://www.projectcargojournal.com/transport-installation/2025/02/19/first-project-cargo-moves-on-the-elbe-following-carola-bridge-collapse/