Aalter (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The broken bridge over the E40 at Aalter in the Belgian province of East Flanders will be restored for vehicular traffic tomorrow. There will be traffic lights to allow the traffic to circulate in turns over the bridge. A truck with a crane that was too high crashed into the lower part of a bridge on the motorway on Saturday.
After an early survey conducted shortly after the accident, we could already tell that the bridge had been damaged. The Roads and Traffic Agency has to explore the bridge more deeply. While that investigation lasted, traffic was not allowed across the bridge.
The investigation is complete, and cars will be able to cross the bridge again starting tomorrow. However not both ways at a time. Traffic lights will be posted at the entrance and exit of the bridge to allow traffic to take turns over the bridge, as reported by VRT.
“The outer structural beams of the bridge are damaged,”
the municipal government of Aalter reports.
“The stability engineer of the road authority indicates that traffic in both directions is not allowed. If traffic only drives in one direction over the bridge, there is no danger.”
The duration of repair of the damage to the bridge, and the time are also not clear.
What is the history of E40 closures in Aalter, Belgium?
The 8,600km E40 motorway provides a key connection between Europe’s east and west, from Calais, France, to Ridder in Kazakhstan, through Belgium, including the municipality of Aalter in East Flanders. In Belgium, the E40 links great cities such as Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp, becoming a crucial artery for commuting citizens and global freight traffic.
Dating back to 1969-1972, the original E5 has become one of the busiest roads in Belgium, carrying more than 112 000 vehicles a day near Brussels by the year 2000. Although it is technically built of a solid concrete structure, the motorway still needs constant maintenance and temporary closures to achieve safety and structural soundness.
