Legal Experts Push for Faster Rhine Bridge Repairs, Propose Concrete Laws by 2025
Legal experts and industry bodies are pushing for significant changes in bridge construction planning center login to tackle the urgent need for repairs and renovations across the Rhine. The Josef Cardinal Frings Bridge, causing annual economic damages of €45 million due to capacity issues, highlights the necessity for action.
IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein and IHK Düsseldorf, along with NDH, demand concrete draft laws by the end of 2025 to halve planning times. They suggest reducing planning periods to one year, a significant decrease from the current six to eight years allocated for the replacement of the Josef Cardinal Frings Bridge.
To achieve this, a specialized infrastructure senate at the Higher Administrative Court of Münster is proposed to process and decide on appeals within one year. Additionally, a binding public timetable, clearly defined contact persons, process guides, and internal mediation processes are recommended to ensure plan approval within the same timeframe.
Legal experts propose making the overall award the rule in time-critical and complex infrastructure projects. This would replace the previous high justification requirement, streamlining the process. Many of the 23 Rhine bridges between Emmerich and Bonn are in urgent need of repair and renovation, making these changes crucial.
The three partners aim to accelerate bridge construction by providing municipalities with instruments to break rigid processes and reduce bureaucracy. They seek a federal-state pact to enable more entrepreneurial freedom, ensuring construction projects proceed faster and more efficiently. The replacement of the Josef Cardinal Frings Bridge is estimated to be completed by 2035, with the new planning targets aiming to have replacement constructions prioritized and completed within one year.
