Anti Mosel-bridge campaigner Sarah Washington sends the following report.
A criminal complaint was filed today at the office of the state prosecutor in the German city of Trier. The complaint outlines the concerns of renowned German geology engineer Professor Rafig Azzam who deems it irresponsible to establish a traffic bridge of this magnitude on floating piles based on the present security status. The news magazine Der Spiegel reported over the weekend that Azzam considers the building of a bridge in this form at this site to be irresponsible and that there could be a risk of danger to human life. It has been further reported that Azzam considers the influence of underground water has not been well enough studied on the unstable slope near Ürzig.
The complaint was signed by individual citizens and winemakers concerned should problems arise due to the perceived inadequate planning of the controversial building project. about which we have published so much (click on the Mosel bridge tag above). After the debacle of the gagging of state geologist Professor Harald Ehses by the government of Rheinland-Pfalz when he aired his own misgivings, Professor Azzam is the latest in a long line of geology experts who consider that the necessary studies and calculations have not been thorough enough for the planned design to be considered safe.
Georg Laska of the campaign group Pro-Mosel who submitted the complaint said, 'a temporary halt to construction is in any case conceivable, as the problems are long known.'
The bridge between Ürzig and Rachtig is the largest bridge construction project in Europe. It should cost 456 million euros and be ready in 2018, although the building schedule and projected costs have been upwardly revised several times already. If a new building method is needed to complete the project safely, costs could escalate considerably.
