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BAD SCHANDAU, Germany (AP) \u2014 Germany’s reputation for efficiency is taking a hit from crumbling concrete. Cracks and collapses are also a risk to its economy, Europe’s biggest.<\/p>\n
The European Union’s most populous member is trying to turn around a problem with worn-out infrastructure<\/a> \u2014 including about 4,000 bridges that need modernizing or replacing over the next decade. All too frequently, unexpected scares about the state of bridges cause short-notice closures that bring local gridlock. Occasionally, it is worse than that.<\/p>\n Cracks and a collapse<\/p>\n In Dresden, a bridge dating back to 1971 partially collapsed<\/a> in the middle of the night in September due to corrosion. No one was hurt, but the collapse snarled traffic and temporarily blocked shipping on the Elbe River. The remains of the Carola bridge have yet to be removed.<\/p>\n The collapse prompted checks on similarly designed bridges \u2014 including one in Bad Schandau, a small town further up the Elbe near the Czech border. It was shut abruptly to all traffic in November as a precaution, leaving locals with a 20-kilometer (12 1\/2-mile) trip to the nearest road crossing until it reopened on Thursday \u2014 albeit with a 7.5-ton weight limit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe closure of this bridge was an absolute catastrophe for people in Bad Schandau,\u201d said Steffen Marx, a civil engineering professor who led ultimately successful stress tests on the bridge. \u201cIt’s the classic gridlock … this is the only crossing along nearly 50 kilometers (30 miles) of river.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as the situation eases in Bad Schandau, Berliners are steaming over the abrupt closure last month of a bridge on a busy highway after a widening crack was detected. It will now be demolished quickly. The outage snarled traffic in a large section of the capital, forced the weeks-long closure of a commuter railway line and prompted the government to cough up 150 million euros ($164 million) for its urgent rebuilding.<\/p>\n Saving and splurging<\/p>\n \u201cThe Germans are very good engineers. You would think that everything works,\u201d said Monika Schnitzer, the head of an independent panel of economic advisers to the government. \u201cAt the same time, the Germans are also very good at saving \u2014 and they saved for a very long time particularly on this infrastructure, on bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n Germany’s prospective new government has moved to address the issue before it even takes office. Last month, the would-be coalition under conservative leader Friedrich Merz<\/a> pushed through parliament a 500 billion-euro ($551 billion) fund, financed by borrowing, to pour money into creaking infrastructure over the next 12 years. Politicians see that as part of efforts to restore the stagnant economy<\/a> to growth.<\/p>\n It’s not just bridges: There are also decrepit schools, and a national railway has begun thorough but disruptive overhauls of major routes<\/a> after years of underinvestment. Complaints about frequent delays and breakdowns on the railway have become a national sport.<\/p>\n The coalition agreement<\/a> presented Wednesday states that \u201cfunctioning infrastructure is the foundation for our country’s prosperity, social cohesion and sustainability. So Germany needs an infrastructure booster \u2014 that applies to hospitals and schools as well as bridges and railways.\u201d<\/p>\n On the roads, it promises that money will be provided \u201cto resolve the renovation backlog on bridges and tunnels in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n The outgoing government says a large number of bridges were already modernized under a program under way since 2022. But much remains to be done.<\/p>\n It’s not just the money<\/p>\n \u201cNow that there’s money, a growth spurt could actually be generated very quickly,\u201d Schnitzer said. \u201cBut what is really necessary for this is that the money is spent quickly. And for that, we need much faster planning and approval procedures than we had so far.\u201d<\/p>\n She noted that Germany has proven it can speed up its planning bureaucracy, notably in building its first liquefied natural gas terminals<\/a> within months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequently cut off pipeline gas supplies<\/a> to Germany.<\/p>\n Outgoing government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit pointed this week to the availability of construction companies and machines as a hurdle to quick bridge repairs and said Germany is \u201cat its capacity limit.\u201d<\/p>\n Marx said the situation of Germany’s infrastructure is \u201cquite critical.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t so much because we don\u2019t invest enough \u2014 that\u2019s one reason,\u201d he said. \u201cBut from my point of view, the main reason is that we don\u2019t take enough care of things. That we just don\u2019t maintain infrastructure and we do far too little cleaning, repairing, strengthening, all things we do in our private buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the huge new infrastructure fund is necessary, but he’s concerned the money will be put only into demolishing and rebuilding the worst bridges rather than ensuring that others never get into that state.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can’t win political points with maintenance and preservation \u2014 it’s boring and not really spectacular,\u201d Marx said. \u201cBut it becomes spectacular when you neglect it.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n