Chaos at the Carola Bridge: Excavators narrowly escape the Elbe disaster!

Chaos at the Carola Bridge: Excavators narrowly escape the Elbe disaster!

An exciting day for Dresden, especially for the residents around the Carola Bridge. Today, June 20th, 2025, there was a special reason for excitement when excavators at the bridge seemed to be surrounded by the Elbe water. But don't panic, the city administration has already given the all-clear. This work is part of the planned relocation of the construction road towards the old town, like Day24 reported.

The current demolition work on the two remaining bridges of the Carola Bridge only started last week. As soon as the work began, the middle sections of the bridge collapsed into the water - a surprising spectacle that attracted over 1,700 spectators who followed the work via a live camera MDR holds on.

Demolition in full swing

In the morning, large excavators were used to remove the asphalt and concrete roadway in the central area. The tension wires of the bridge were also cut, and by midday the time had come: a bridge train fell onto the fall bed in the Elbe. Holger Kalbe, department head at the Roads and Civil Engineering Department, said that the rapid collapse could indicate specific previous damage to the bridge.

A total of around 13,000 tons of material, including hydraulic stones, empty pipes and sand, are required for the fall bed. After the work on the New Town side is completed, the focus will be on the Old Town side, where work is also necessary. The seawall will be removed to make room for a new construction road, as mentioned in a press release from the city dresden.de.

The path to the new bridge

The city has also already taken proactive measures: the planned demolition is expected to take eight weeks, and there are some challenges in demolishing the last part of the bridge. The sloping part will be demolished from the Neustadt side, which requires an additional construction road. This is gradually being filled up with large stones so that an excavator can be used on it.

After the asphalt and concrete layer, the sea walls also have to be removed. The use of the excavator on the construction road is therefore essential in order to be able to carry out the upcoming work efficiently.

The project also has an impact on shipping on the Elbe. In view of the demolition, the bridge acts as an obstacle to drainage and measures must be taken to restore the fairway with a uniform water depth. This 150m wide fairway was recently affected by landfalls, which also affected the temporary stability of bridges A and B.

The responsible authorities are in constant contact with the Waterways and Shipping Authority to keep an eye on the situation, while the Dresden Film Nights are already planning for the upcoming 2025 season.

Things will be peaceful in the old town for now, after the exciting events at the Carola Bridge. Those responsible are mostly optimistic that after extensive work, the new bridge will not only improve the infrastructure, but also usher in a new chapter for the city.