German bridge near Pirna: wood found inside concrete piers

Defects have been found in four piers of a 70-metre bridge near the German town of Pirna, which the Czech company Metrostav is building together with Austria’s BeMo Tunnelling: part of the wooden formwork was left cast in the concrete. According to the builders and the client, the bridge’s stability is not at risk, but the repair will delay a project that was already running late.

What was found in the piers

The first damage was spotted by employees of DEGES, the German state company for planning and building motorways, German media reported. According to Holger Behrmann of DEGES, the 70-metre piers were built first, then the steel supporting structure was slid onto them, and the joints between the piers and the horizontal structure were dealt with last.

The formwork and reinforcement were prepared on the ground, then lifted and attached to the pier. That is when the mistake happened: “parts of the formwork were cast in concrete, and defects formed,” Behrmann explained. The bridge’s stability is not under threat now, but over time moisture could penetrate the damaged areas. Had the flaw gone unnoticed, taxpayers would soon have paid for repairs again. The costs will now fall on the ARGE Gottleubatalbrücke construction consortium, made up of BeMo Tunnelling GmbH and Metrostav.

Metrostav spokesman Radim Mana confirmed that the contractors themselves identified insufficiently compacted concrete in a zone with extremely dense reinforcement, on four reinforced-concrete transitions that connect the supporting structure with the piers. According to him, the defects will be remedied during 2027 using suitable concreting methods to ensure full functionality and long-term durability of the structure. The Austrian BeMo said that, as the contractor, it does not comment on ongoing construction projects.

How it will be fixed

The cast-in wood is to be exposed with a high-pressure water jet. The aim is to do this before the end of this year. Everything can be filled with concrete next year, probably in early summer, but this special procedure requires the consent of the federal government.

Building the bridge has been extremely complicated: work was interrupted and plans changed. When the bridge will open is still unclear. “It is not about doing it quickly, but about doing it carefully,” Behrmann says. The bridge was originally due to be finished in 2022, then the deadline was moved to the end of 2026. A third possible date is autumn 2027, but officially no one dares to name an exact date.

What the Pirna bypass has cost

The bridge is a key part of the Pirna bypass. The original 1999 plan put the cost of the project at 70.6 million German marks, roughly 36 million euros (876 million crowns). By 2008 the sum had risen to 70.9 million euros (1.8 billion crowns), and by the start of construction in 2017 to 98 million euros (2.4 billion crowns). Costs now stand at around 288 million euros, which is more than seven billion crowns. One kilometre costs 1.85 billion crowns and, according to German media, it is the most expensive road in all of Germany.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz