Autobahn A5. Highway repairs in Germany. Photo credit: Peter Henrich (Hen-Foto) / Imago Stock & People / Profimedia
Germany will carry out emergency repair work on its famous highways this weekend, after the extreme heat of the last days has caused cracks in the concrete layer on several portions of highway, writes Agerpres.
The temperatures up to 39 degrees Celsius caused the concrete dilation so that cracks in the highways of different parts of the country appeared, which caused traffic jams. Given that on Friday the summer holidays started in many German lands, the weekend repair work will affect the traffic even more.
The cracks appear when the concrete dilates and has no place to expand, which leads to breaks. The most affected are the older, intensely used highways or the highways that do not have an asphalt layer.
The German authorities have prepared for this event by lowering the speed limit on older road sections, an important measure in the only nationalized country without a general speed limit on highways.
Although the work of repairing the damage caused by the heat in Germany has started, a highway in the Ruhr heavy traffic area will be completely closed, on a direction of walking, starting on Friday night and until Monday morning, to cover the stations and cracks.
In the Land of Hesa, in the center of Germany, a five -meter portion of the motorway was broken and the pieces eliminated, and in the meantime the workers poured a new asphalt layer, the representatives of the Road Authority said.
While in Germany the heat wave will cause dissatisfaction among drivers who are preparing to go on vacation, in other parts of Europe the consequences are much more serious. The island of Crete in Greece is fighting with vegetation fires that have imposed the evacuation of several thousand residents and tourists. In Spain, Italy and France, the extreme heat caused the death of several people.
