Overview
- The assembled bridge has been moved through Altona on specialized self‑propelled modular transporters and completed most of its route, with a final overnight lift into its foundations scheduled for early Friday.
- Engineers used 48 SPMT modules with 1,088 individually rotating wheels and raised Max‑Brauer‑Allee about 60 centimetres with steel plates to spread the load and steer the 108‑metre structure with centimetre precision.
- The operation required major temporary changes to the streetscape: 86 trees were felled, streetlights and a petrol‑station canopy were cut back, residents along the route were asked to leave and were accommodated in hotels, and old bridge parts were taken to DB storage in Wilhelmsburg.
- After the bridge is set on its prepared bearings, crews will install ballast, rails, overhead lines and signals, and Deutsche Bahn and the city are targeting a reopening of the line at the end of August.
- The move shortened the time tracks would be closed by transporting a fully built superstructure through the city, but it has provoked local criticism over cultural losses and urban impact as clubs and neighborhood green space were affected.