The High Moselle Bridge- B 50neu is the second highest bridge in Germany. Credit: PORR / LBM Trier.

The High Moselle Bridge in Germany opened for public use on 21 November.

At 185m tall, the new bridge is the second-highest in the country after the Kochertal Bridge.

The High Moselle Bridge is part of the new 25km-long ‘B 50neu’ road and connects the Benelux countries with the Rhein-Main area.

Worth €175m, the project took eight years to complete. SEH / PORR consortium completed the final bridge shunting this month.

The bridge is 1.7km long and rests on ten pylons. The shortest of the pylons is 20m high while the tallest pylon is nearly 150m high.

More than 100 bored piles were driven into the ground to support the pylons.

The bridge is located 150m above the Mosel Valley floor. This is said to reduce its visual impact on the landscape, irrespective of its large size.

The contractor stated that it spent around €35m in compensation to offset environmental impacts.

PORR CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss said: “The High Moselle Bridge delivers enormous benefits for people in the region and cross-regional traffic: Belgium’s metropolitan areas now have closer links to the Rhein-Main area and southern Germany, villages situated on the previous route will see significantly less traffic, and international freight transport will be far more efficient.

“At the same time, it will be easier for people to access the impressive cultural landscape of the Moselle region, a genuine win-win. We are proud to have had the honour of realising this technically demanding mega-project.”