Collapsing bridges and crumbling roads: Germany’s infrastructure time bomb needs more than money to fix

As construction crews using heavy excavators demolished a major highway bridge in Berlin, pensioner Guido, like many Germans, greeted the dusty spectacle with grim satisfaction.

“For once, it was very quick, it took about a month,” said the 65-year-old, who only gave his first name, adding that “we’re not used to our projects going according to plan”.

A crack first appeared a decade ago in a support structure of the concrete and steel bridge built in 1963 that forms part of the capital city’s busy A100 ring road.