Water pipe rupture B9 at Bundeskanzlerplatz closed off for a week
BONN · Since early Thursday morning, the B9 at Bundeskanzlerplatz has been completely closed off. It is the road leading into the city center. The culprit is a ruptured water pipe which happened on Wednesday.
Due to a burst water pipe, Adenauerallee (B9) at Bundeskanzlerplatz is expected to be closed for a week. The leak has washed out the street, which is why both lanes in the direction of Bonn city center cannot be used.
The leak in the drinking water pipe, which has an inner diameter of about 60 centimeters, was noticed during other repair work. Already on Tuesday evening, the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) noticed through sensors that water had entered a heating shaft in this area. "We then identified a defective hydrant as the cause," said a SWB employee. The hydrant, which lies underground in the middle of the road, could be quickly replaced, and the construction workers only had to close one lane. "When we put pressure on the pipes again, water flowed into the construction pit." Whether both leaks had occurred at the same time or one after the other was still unclear.
Water pipes from the 70’s
The drinking water pipeline, which runs under the Adenauerallee, is one of the most important in the city. It dates back to the 70’s and is made of cast iron with a cement lining inside. Many pipes in Bonn are older, but these ones are exposed to particular stresses. "Daily traffic shakes the ground, which affects the material," explains the SWB employee. To absorb this, the pipe, which is buried at a depth of around 2.50 meters, is covered by a road substructure about 80 centimeters thick. This is followed by several asphalt layers of various thicknesses. "That's what makes the job site so complicated." Because all these layers have to be restored. Over a length of about 50 meters, the road has been torn open, and sheet pile walls stabilize the deep pit.
Traffic is diverted
The work has a major impact on traffic, which can no longer turn off the B9 onto Adenauerallee. Instead, cars will have to cross Reuterstrasse and go through the Südstadt (south Bonn) or turn right before the Reuterbrücke Bridge, use Kaiserstraße and narrow connecting streets to get back to Adenauerallee.
The pipeline rupture is not a problem for the water supply, as the SWB can provide water to the households via other pipes. Only the Palais Schaumburg, in which no one is currently working because of renovations, is out of commission. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is being supplied by an emergency pipeline.
(Orig text: Nicholas Ottersbach, Translation: ck)
