A45 Talbrücke Ottfingen Demolition Disrupts North‑South Traffic

On the morning of 19 July 2026, the Autobahn GmbH used about 160 kg of explosives and 900 m of detonating cord in 530 drill holes to bring down the first half of the Talbrücke Ottfingen on the A45 between Olpe‑Süd and Freudenberg. The controlled collapse was timed for 08:00 after a safety‑related closure of both directions from 06:00. Traffic was rerouted over the remaining half of the bridge and the road was expected to reopen around midday, a critical measure for drivers heading from the Ruhr area to the Rhein‑Main region for summer holidays.

The 1971‑built bridge is part of a corridor of roughly 60 major bridges linking Dortmund and Frankfurt. Twelve have already been rebuilt, twelve more are under construction, and the demolition is part of a broader renewal programme that also saw the Rahmede bridge demolished in 2021. The work aims to replace the ageing structure with a new, higher‑capacity crossing.