[Dackelone]

Ever wonder how the German's improve their Autobahn nextwork? Here is how. The old bridge was built back in 1967. Over 740 meters long, 11K tons heavy and it took 2,800 sticks of explosives to demolish the old bride.

This was on the A7 just before Fulda. Connecting Bayern with the state of Hessen.

Enjoy!

Jalopnik's feature on the bridge...
http://jalopnik.com/this-is-the-pret...seen-597926135

[Its_lobelt]

Very cool

[NemesisX]

That is pretty cool. The fall looked very controlled as well which is impressive.

[m5 guy]

Thanks for posting!

[comar1979]

Impressive!

[Dackelone]

everytime I drive over this bridge on the way to Essen, I think of this video.

[ShocknAwe]

That was very well done!

Imagine how it would likely be done in the US. Probably guys on ropes tied to the top of the bridge with jackhammers.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

That was very well done!

Imagine how it would likely be done in the US. Probably guys on ropes tied to the top of the bridge with jackhammers.

or not..

[gtron]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

That was very well done!

Imagine how it would likely be done in the US. Probably guys on ropes tied to the top of the bridge with jackhammers.

That's a very interesting view of the US. Is there a reason you think the US is more like a periphery rather than core country?

[ShocknAwe]

Just a joke guys...

[dtwyim]

That's precision engineering. Surprised it didn't affect the adjacent new bridge. Like a mini earthquake beside it.

Like playing angry birds.

[Dackelone]

Everytime I drive on the A7 over this bridge I think about the old bridge. For years they had an impossibly slow speed limit of 60 kph on the old dilapidated bridge. Now you just fly past this area/bridge - its so nice.

[dsad1]

Why did they need to destroy the old bridge? Or I guess why did they need to build a new bridge?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by djsaad1

Why did they need to destroy the old bridge? Or I guess why did they need to build a new bridge?

The A7 is the main Autobahn for traveling North to South(other than the A9). They could not detour all that traffic(trucks and cars) for a few years thru some small villages in that area. So they build the new bridge parallel - to the old bridge. Once the new bridge was ready to use... the old one was demolished with explosives. This is typical of German Autobahn bridge builds.

[ShakyDog]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

That was very well done!

Imagine how it would likely be done in the US. Probably guys on ropes tied to the top of the bridge with jackhammers.

No, no, you have it all wrong...Here in the USA we would still be using that bridge and maybe 20 or so years from now we might think about repairing or replacing it with an exact same size bridge.

I live in Missouri right off of I70, the oldest section of I70. The highway is STILL only four lanes. The state just re-did almost every bridge on the route, did they think ahead and make the bridges wider or plan for expansion? Hell no, that would be too logical. When I travel to other states, they are never as busy as this section of I70. MODOT keeps misappropriating funds to maintain Saint Louis and Kansas City. They keep saying there is no money to fix the I70 cluster of fornication.

Steve

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by ShakyDog

No, no, you have it all wrong...Here in the USA we would still be using that bridge and maybe 20 or so years from now we might think about repairing or replacing it with an exact same size bridge.

I live in Missouri right off of I70, the oldest section of I70. The highway is STILL only four lanes. The state just re-did almost every bridge on the route, did they think ahead and make the bridges wider or plan for expansion? Hell no, that would be too logical. When I travel to other states, they are never as busy as this section of I70. MODOT keeps misappropriating funds to maintain Saint Louis and Kansas City. They keep saying there is no money to fix the I70 cluster of fornication.

Steve

Sounds all too familiar. Locally, over $1bn in the last 2yrs has been misappropriated from badly needed roadworks to, anyone's best guess really. And yes. That number is correct.