Gone With a Bang

My blip shows the livestream of an event in our city: A bridge getting reduced to 15.000 tons of rubble in just three seconds.

This 60-years-old Autobahn bridge had already been a building site for years. It was supposed to get taken down and rebuilt bit by bit, to avoid an additional 80.000 vehicles per day crawling through the city centre, producing a huge gridlock during the daily commute.

So much for the plan. But on a hot day in June, people watched concrete rubble falling down from the bridge. It had sagged by about half a metre, and was closed for traffic immediately - not just on the bridge, but also underneath it, including another Autobahn and all the railway tracks to our main station.

Today, five months later, the derelict bridge was finally blown up. If we are lucky, the second road and railway tracks will be repaired by Christmas. Building the new bridge will take years. 

Until then, an additional 80.000 vehicles per day will still be crawling through the city centre, producing a huge gridlock during the daily commute. 

I am glad we can both work from home.