"Let's Move Things Along" Here's the Scoop on Germany's Bridge Refurbishment Plan
Transport Minister plans to restore over 3,000 bridges by the year 2032.
Germany's Transport Minister is pulling out all the stops to upgrade thousands of rundown bridges by 2032. "Get ready for a flurry of construction sites," says Minister Patrick Schnieder. "It's going to be a pain, no doubt, but imagine the relief once those bridges are back in tip-top shape."
With over 4,000 bridges in dire need of some TLC, Schnieder has his work cut out for him. "I expect that we'll have successfully rehabilitated a large chunk of these 4,000 bridges by 2032," he says.
The timing? As Schnieder previously mentioned in his public statements, his aim is to match the timescale set by his predecessor Volker Wissing. The federal budget for 2025 alone allocates 2.5 billion euros from the Infrastructure and Climate Protection Fund for bridge renovation—with bigger bills on the horizon for the following years. The area covered by these 4,000 bridges stretches over about 450 football fields.
"We've kicked things off with the major and vital bridges, and we've already managed to renovate the equivalent of 156 football fields. A third is done, and we've got the rest to go," Schnieder shares.
But the Minister isn't content with just meeting his deadlines; he wants to speed things up. "We need to revamp procedures when possible—to make them simpler and swifter," Schnieder states. "Let's say we're constructing a new bridge in the same spot, we'd typically be subject to a convoluted and lengthy planning process, which nobody gets. That needs to change."
The Federal Court of Auditors had previously criticized the federal government for the slow pace of bridge renovation, but the Ministry has brushed off these critiques.
[1] Regional infrastructure companies streamlining railway infrastructure projects for quicker and more cost-effective results.[3] Adoption of progressive design-build approaches on bridge projects, inspired by Canada's infrastructure efforts.[5] Incorporation of environmentally sustainable technologies or innovative construction methods in infrastructure projects for climate objectives.
Source: ntv.de, lme/dpa
- Federal Ministry of Transport
- Germany’s Infrastructure Plan
- Patrick Schnieder
- Bridge Renovation and Construction
- Accelerating Projects
- To speed up the bridge renovation and construction process, the Federal Ministry of Transport is exploring options such as incorporating environmentally sustainable technologies, adopting progressive design-build approaches, and streamlining railway infrastructure projects, taking inspiration from Canada's infrastructure efforts in the industry.
- In addition to the allocated budget from the Finance Ministry for bridge renovation, the transport policy of the Federal Ministry of Transport includes plans to revise certain procedures to make them simpler and swifter, aiming to attract finance from both public and private sectors, thereby fulfilling community policy objectives related to infrastructure development and climate protection.
