Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe

TransportPosted 09/14/202609/14/2026 at 8:15 pm@BuildDesk To timeline

Starts 09/11/2024

Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe · Chronopin

Deck C of Dresden's Carola Bridge collapsed between 02:58 and 02:59 (UTC+2) on 11 September 2024, with no casualties; the collapse took out about 100 m of the central span, and a light rail train had crossed shortly before 3am^[2][3]
The bridge carried road and tram traffic over the Elbe: the first bridge on the site was built in 1895 and destroyed by the SS on 7 May 1945, and the replacement was built between 1967 and 1971 (opening July 3, 1971) after a 1965 competition, with three prestressed-concrete decks A, B and C, C carrying the trams^[2][3]
Renovation of the bridge had begun in 2019 and it was declared a protected monument in 2022^[2]
The collapse destroyed district heating pipelines, and a temporary pipeline was laid across the Augustus Bridge^[2]
Demolition began the next day but was interrupted by the 2024 Central European floods; because decks A and B had shifted and shared structural flaws, demolition of the whole bridge was approved^[2]
The structure kept failing afterwards: additional steel elements collapsed over the weekend before 3 March 2025, halting Elbe shipping for another 72 hours, after the channel had reopened a month earlier from a four-month closure with vessels passing single file by authorization since the end of January; controlled access under the bridge was to resume if there were no further fractures or movement in 72 hours^[3]
Early 2025 brought unexploded WWII ordnance on the site, and in February 2025 cracks were detected in the steel reinforcement of decks A and B, accelerating demolition; removal of collapsed and standing sections was slated to begin within weeks and be finished by the end of the year, and as of June 2025 the entire structure was being demolished^[2][3]
Dresden city council approved a new bridge planned to start in 2027: two spans, four car lanes, tram tracks, extended bike lanes and footpaths^[2]
The pin's source, The B1M's "The Bridge Collapse That Shocked a Nation" (published 2026-03-11), uses the collapse to frame "the $500BN plan to fix Germany's infrastructure", with chapters on the Dresden collapse and "The New Carolabruecke"; beyond that figure its page gives no dates, funding detail or collapse findings^[1]

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Dresden's Carola Bridge Collapses Into the Elbe

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Hamburg Port Authority Opens the Rethebrücke as Europe's Largest Rail Bascule Bridge

Storm Daniel Bursts the Derna Dams

Hidroituango Dam Crisis Forces Mass Evacuation in Colombia

Glacier Collapse Destroys the Rasuwagadhi Border Crossing

The Haiti Earthquake Wrecks Port-au-Prince

Fehmarnbelt Tunnel Opens

New Spitallamm Dam Replaces Century-Old Cracked Wall

Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses in Baltimore

The Millau Viaduct Opens to Traffic

Francis Scott Key Bridge Rebuilt

Renzo Piano’s Genoa San Giorgio Bridge Opens to Traffic

Germany Launches Its Biggest Rail Overhaul in Decades

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References 387% CONFIDENCE

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