A 1,250-tonne, 118-metre central section of the new Rade High Bridge was hoisted over the Kiel Canal on Thursday, completing a critical milestone in the replacement of a vital but aging motorway link in northern Germany.
The overnight operation began at 22:30 on Wednesday but encountered delays of roughly two hours as crews adjusted cable lengths and cut away a section of steel on the north side after daytime heat caused the span to expand. The canal was closed to shipping for about 16 hours. Around 100 workers took part, lifting the piece to a height of 50 metres with heavy-lift cranes after it had been loaded onto a specialist pontoon earlier in the week.
The first half of the new bridge is expected to open to traffic by late 2026, with the original 1972 structure scheduled for demolition in 2028. The wider project, including a second parallel bridge due for completion by 2031, carries total costs of nearly 900 million euros.