German engineers are working on 3-4 June to slide into position a new section of a viaduct in the east of the country.

A construction consortium led by Strabag and Bikhardt Bau has raised the six piers of the Rinsdorf Viaduct by 2cm and installed Teflon sliding plates between the piers and their foundations. The 40,000t viaduct will move 20.59cm southwest over the course of 20 to 30 hours.

It is not possible to view the work in person, but a livestream of the Rinsdorf Viaduct move is available from Autobahn Westfalen.

The 485.5m Rinsdorf Viaduct was a single bridge dating from 1967. It is being replaced by two structures. The first section was built alongside the old bridge, which was demolished using explosives in February 2022 (link opens in new tab). The second section was built in its place and is now being shifted into its new alignment.