The defects at the main station are greater than expected. Now even the Humboldthafen bridge has to be renovated. As with BER, the construction botch was politically motivated and could have been prevented, says Gunnar Schupelius.
Again: The railway bridges at the main station need to be renovated!
Now it’s the turn of the Humboldthafen Bridge. All long-distance, regional and S-Bahn trains travel eastbound here. From April 9th, the tracks will have to be partially closed.
The bridge consists of a concrete structure standing on steel tubes. The steel in the concrete has apparently corroded. How is that possible?
The Humboldthafen Bridge is only 23 years old. The previous bridge had been there since 1880 and even survived the Second World War.
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So how can a structure that was built 120 years later using the most modern technology collapse after just 23 years?
Where is the legendary German workmanship? It fell by the wayside when the then railway boss Mehdorn wanted to finish the main station by the 2006 World Cup, which was actually impossible.
For this, the quality was saved. This took revenge a little later, when the first damage was discovered in 2012 and had to be extensively renovated in 2015.
Conclusion: We have forgotten how to build, not only at BER.
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