| KE 19.02.1997 | Two month until the openening of the "Hoernbruecke", "IM MÄRZ SOLL'S KLAPPEN" (It should work in march). On friday, April 18th at 11 a.m. Kiel will have a new monument. Then a delegation shall open the new bridge over the Hoern - two month time to finish the great project. There is no tolerance to this date, because two days later the ships of the Color-Line (Kiel-Oslo) will come to the new ferry terminal. One of the responsible persons, department head Udo Weißel: "We are in time and the financial limit of 9.2 million marks for the bridge an the landing place for the ferries will be enough. |
| KE 19.02.1997 | Still no name for the new eye catcher [..] In the middle of the 116m long and 6 m wide viaduct there will be three foldable bridge fields, opening a 20 m wide passage for ships and sailing boats. The plans were made by engineers in Stuttgart. To be sure, the mechanism was already tested on the NEPTUN ship yard in Rostock, where it was build. At the end of march, beginning of April the bridge should be installed in Kiel. [..] The bridge will be painted in classical white with natural oak footpath. A new eye catcher for visitors and passengers it will be. And perhaps even more: "The great significance of the bridge has already been dicussed during the planning," knows Hans-Heinrich Hansen. He thinks that this bridge will soon be representing part of the city and scenery for local television broadcasts. The city itself wants to publish informations about the bridge and install so called "infopoints" in the city area. The only missing part of the bridge is a great name "We had no time unitl now to think about that," says Udo Weißel and Hans-Heinrich Hansen: "There is no official idea by now." |
| KN 09.04.1997 | Using a pontoon The idea is to bring a 43 m long pontoon next to the still open part of the viaduct. Passengers could then cross the Hoern. Engineers and technicians are still working on the problems with the three field folding drawbridge. But there is still no information about the date when this innovative construction will be installed. Town councillor Otto Flagge is going to defend the project together with the professors Jörg Schlaich and Volkwin Mark in public today. The pontoon could be chartered in order to let the Color Line move to the new ferry terminal and would allow the passengers to cross the Hoern while the ferry arrives at the terminal between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Color Line comments this idea with: "If we can't get a date for the finished bridge, we will stay at the Oslokai." |
| KN 10.04.1997 | It will work - but when? "Something went wrong" There are still no dates, no guaranties, no one was blamed for the problems with the bridge. Not answered was the question of rising costs and financial compensation. Four weeks after the problems with the bridge over the Hoern first came to the public, councillor Otto Flagge and the responsible engineers gave first statements. "The bridge will work and there is a good chance that it should be finished in time for the Kiel Week (June 19th - 28th)," says Jörg Schlaich, responsible for the technical part of the bridge. Originally the opening of the bridge was dated for April 18th. [..] There were difficulties because the moving part of the bridge has become heavier than calculated. Guaranties for the date of completion or non-problematic working of the mechanism - as they were given three years before - could not be given by Flagge, Marg nor Schlaich. The saftey of the bridge sensitively depends on the grade of maintenance. All three men insisted on the meaning of this world wide unique construction of a bridge for the city Kiel. "This bridge shall show that Germany is top in technology and that technology from Germany has a future," says professor Marg. And professor Schlaich adds: "There was no bridge build in the last 30 years worth talking about." All three men criticised the negative publication about the problems with the bridge in the news. |
| KN 06.05.1997 | Bridge over the Hoern becomes far more expensive. To manage the complicated technology of the bridge there will be additional costs of about 2.4 million marks. That is about 25 percent of the original calculations. |
| KN 10.05.1997 | It should work until end of August. The new three field folding drawbridge works, but not exactly the way it was planned by technicians and politicians: the time for the bridge to open is to long, the bridge has become to heavy. There are also differences about maintenance periods and costs. Nobody knows who has to pay for the additional 2.4 million marks. Otto Flagge now dates the completion of the bridge for end fo August after being installed in july. |
| KN 10.05.1997 | Flagge: It will work until end of august. On a visit to the building ship yard in Rostock Otto Flagge signed political responsible for the problems with the bridge mechanism. Due to these problems, the new ferry terminal could not be opend on april 28th and the date for the Color Line to move to the new terminal is still open. Otto Flagg did not answer questions about the additional costs of 2.4 million marks and the Color line wants guaranties form the city's government. The 20 m long bridge is installed in the giant hall of the Neptun ship yard in Rostock. It is installed for many weeks now, but it still didn't pass the testing. It has become some tons heavier than calculated and opening the bridge takes 3 minutes time - one minute more than calculated. [..] Professor Volkwin Marg from Hamburg, inventor of the bridge was so fascinated by the working of the mechanism that he wants the bridge to be painted in an intensive red for becoming an eye catcher in the harbour. [..] Rudolf Bergermann from the engineering office Schlaich, Bergermann and partners in Stuttgart, responsible for the technical construction, said: "The mechanism is so complicated that hardly all details could be calculated in simulations." Independent from the activities in Rostock the Color Line sent a letter to Otto Flagge in which they wrote: "You'll surely understand our scepticism looking at the problems with the bridge. We would appreciate an acknowledgement that maintenance and repair of the bridge - though there will be more than formerly estimated - will be done when they do not interfere with our shedule." The fact that bridge operation could not be done at wind velocities above 9 beaufort bothers the ferry line: "We expect that the bridge then is in the closed position." |
| KN 14.05.1997 | Insisting on the bridge |
| KE 10.06.1997 | Again later: Bridge will be finished in october. The completion of the Hoernbridge will be again later than calculated. The new date, given by Otto Flagge is the middle/end of october. He also announced that not only the constructional costs, but also the maintenance of the bridge will ne more expensive than estimated. Newest calculation give 9.9 million marks, which are 2 million more than planned. Technical modifications to the construction lead to yearly maintenance costs rising from 23000 to 90000 marks. [..] Key to the problems obviously were faulty calculations from the engineering office. Due to these errors the bridge became haevier than planned, leading to a shorter lifetime of the ropes and the need of stronger motors. The lifetime of the ropes was calculated for ten years but now some of the ropes will have to be replaced every two years. |
| KE 14.06.1997 | Hoernbridge: More worries more costs The production of the Hoernbridge again takes longer than planned. The completion of the bridge Is estimated by Otto Flagge for end of august and the originally calculated costs of 12.5 million marks will be overdrawn by some million marks. [..] The mechanism of the bridge already works since start of april but is still not fast enough. Not two, it takes three to four minutes for the bridge top open due to the bridge being some tons heavier than planned. Together with additional costs for modifications there are additional costs for the rent of the construction hall and salaries for the workers. |
| KE 14.06.1997 | Too Heavy 2.45 million marks are provided for the bridge to be completed until october 22nd, the new opening date. The designing engineer of the bridge Jörg Schlaich from Stuttgart had to admit an awkward calculation error, leading to an additional weight of about 20 percent and to the problems with the mechanism of the bridge. [..] "You see, the bridge is everything but normal," says Schlaich. |