A stroll along these days on the Rhine, it can, like every year at this time, watch: Nearly every hour sees rise the water and tearing, can the river watching almost the swelling, a light brown tide bubbling over and is on the verge to reach the waterfronts, an immense amount of plastic waste with him a leader: snow melt, rain ...
"Currently we have a ground water level of 37.9 meters. At 39.5 meters, we want flood. "(GA v Bonn. 26.2.2010). This refers to the Metro construction site in Cologne's Old Town. Tomorrow, on Saturday, it will then be ready, at a water level of 6.50 meters.
Metro driving is stupid: Boring, because you see nothing awkward, because you have only laboriously down and then drag back up when not shopping bags, then at least themselves, and it is dangerous, especially late in the evening and at night scary. If in doubt, a nobody comes despite surveillance cameras to help.
Cologne lies on the Rhine, especially the old town, where at least some beautiful old buildings have survived the second world war and the eye give clue and relief. The old town stands on a thousand year old archaeological significant underground, but it's underground river, gravel, sand and groundwater.
The Kölne north-south route of the Underground: parallel to the Rhine; Source: wikimedia commons
Underground tunnels are millionfold or billion-dollar prestige companies in the spirit of the 1960s, as one proud urged's car, free travel for free citizens and the trams kindly to disappear from the scene had.
Subways are out of date, they can not adapt to current traffic needs, and there were and are always spectacular and serious accidents in their construction. Subways cost on average 10 times more than a normal, above-ground tram.
Presumably they enjoy very reason for the responsible politicians and the contractors appointed as lasting popularity.
The dice for the north-south route disaster fell in Cologne in 1996 by an "independent" study by Schuessler-Plan, which was followed by the Cologne City Council and then later asked the company with the site management. The company was a specialist in tunnel construction and other solutions considered as not beneficial.
The original estimated cost of 500 million euros are now arrived at 1.3 billion, but that is only an intermediate stage, considering the date.
The North-South-piece parallel to the Rhine nobody really needed so really, it only promised one time profit of a few minutes, there was already another city trains and buses. Five to six minutes for 1.3 billion euros. Or 3.6 km for 1.3 billion.
Construction began in 2004 and in the autumn of the same year the tower of the millennial church St. Johann Baptist bowed in Severinsviertel (948 built) and threatened to collapse. The emergency measures to stabilize it cost 1 million euros.
The ancient church is just 150 meters from the archives of the city, which, as everyone knows by now, the memory of Cologne and the Rhine country; Here, in 2008, showed cracks but actually really interested anyone.
On 3.3.2009 then the people heard a low rumble, ran outside; the house of the historic city archives and two other houses collapsed within seconds. The street was destroyed over a length of 70 meters.
"I saw the cracks in the house climbed higher and higher," said an eyewitness to the TV station n-tv, "the facade began to crumble and then everything fell slowly into itself. Like in a movie. "
In a meter deep hole covered with houses two people and
• 65,000 documents from the year 922,
• 26 shelf kilometers of files,
• 104,000 maps and plans and 50,000 posters and
• 818 estates and collections.
The construction consortium Bilfinger Berger consists of 3 companies: Wayss & Freitag AG, Royal BAM Group and the Züblin AG. With the subway construction but also various subcontractors were instructed to reduce a common method for costs, increase return on investment. The overall management of the overall construction was awarded to Schuessler-Plan, the same company that had 1996 also created the ultimate independent expert reports.
"... Up to 83 percent of the proposed steel bracket in the stabilizing diaphragm walls are missing ... failure of the whole system of supervision ..." (GA Bonn v. 2/18/2010) ... workers are said to have sold the iron bracket to scrap dealers ... already wrong survey protocols for 28 so-called diaphragm walls in discovered the pits ... "(GA v Bonn. 16.2.2010) ..." that in this construction people with criminal energy at work, how it Kahlen [City Manager] not have imagined in his wildest dreams ... at least he can on the day give the all clear after Rosenmontagszug; predictions that the stability would be ensured everywhere were observed "(GA Bonn 17.2.2010) The Rose Monday Parade in Cologne collapsed so - not -. in the pit." times missing important metal anchors into the slot walls, the construction workers poured too little concrete in the backup Buildings; the appropriate protocols - which upheld a person familiar with the operations of the GA -. were apparently falsified "(see above)
The District President is the supervision at the start of construction of the city of Cologne, this gives them to her daughter, the Cologne Transport Authority (KVB), these they are - privately before State - to Schuessler-Plan, a subcontractor of Bilfinger Berger.
In 2000, "streamlined" the city of Cologne its management. The Civil Engineering Department is practically resolved for the Dezernates for urban drainage, bridges and city railway construction was the supervision of the city to the KVB over. , outgesurced . Responsibility is neoliberal eye sourced, uotgesorced, outgesurced.
"Bela Dören. That was until a few years head of the department in Cologne, responsible for civil engineering. His office had more than 100 employees, then his job has been deleted. , The city had not resolved the office, we would have been a day with several people on the ground. And on the question of whether this would also happen with a functioning civil engineering department, he adds: 'Absolutely not'.
Then he told yet that the test engineer from Munich arrives and is only so rarely on site because you have pushed him over fee in the price. '"(See p. O)
The washed away reason, water leaks, cracks, crumbling facades - we are still perceive warning signs in the situation?
Not if we continue to believe that something only other anginge. "The complete restoration of archive materials will cost 300 to 500 million euros according to an estimate by the city of Cologne." (GA Bonn, 26.2.20109).
When Cologne will soon be no longer get cash loan and not have its own budget fielding more and the city before our eyes, forfeit, more and more potholes remain unsurfaced in the streets, close schools, theaters, swimming pools, it may dawn on some that it is indeed the all the time "we" were who had to pay for such projects.
Had 1,996 more citizens for their community interested and did not believe that "since" make it all right and know it would not come so far, not only in Cologne. We should quickly realize that "those at the top, or wherever" do not know and make it right no one except itself because it has long been missing them on something important. Recall that they love their city. Otherwise they would not do that to her something.
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Tags: Cologne underground , Rhein-Hochwasseer , Severin district , city archive , tunnel flooding
The citizens of Cologne now the blame for this disaster, strikes me as more primitive. How should the citizens of the criminal goings of workers, construction supervision ... ... .Politikern. areas in such a large-scale style stop? If the Cologne around the clock all the criminals on and around the site monitor? And how? Why is it not become noisy after a collapse of the archive that is difficult here sloppy and cheated in the construction ?? Why does it bother anyone if the KVB assigns the supervision of a subcontractor of Bilfinger? Where is the responsibility of the duty cologne policy? But this is typical! Make the little citizens of the authorities "transparent" and with the great - if they ever so sloppy and criminal procedure - close both eyes.
Trams are in large cities - especially on other routes - certainly not an appropriate means of transport. Space and already in all these cities congested roads, where's the sense?
to 1956: Behind all your sentences, it can certainly make a green check mark, except the first: I have never spoken of "guilt". I feel more of a widespread attitude of passivity, which has indeed historically found in Germany a specific expression. You might have heard somewhere after the collapse of the archive from a demo, let's say 20 people? I need nicht.Es namely not huge crowds. Only say 50 Cologne, who would have said in 1996: "wool mer nit, nit mer need, fott it!" Course is underdeveloped direct democracy and direct citizen engagement in Germany. This is, for example, in Switzerland much better. As a village for a new Feuwehrhaus can do with costing a project. This then goes u for voting., If you find it's too expensive, then get rid of it.
Of course, there's few examples where a subway was useful or would be. But certainly not at the Cologne north / south route. I'm saying: We can not get around it, to increase our community involvement and do so very quickly.. The alternative: bankruptcy of cities. I'm just a keyword: WCCB Bonn. Bonn is broke, even if it is still obscured by computing tricks.
A little anecdote about this: I'm sitting in the Christ Church, where OB Roters answers questions applied Cologne citizens. Church was crowded. The conversation turns to the verscherbelten iron carrier. Bank says my neighbor to me:
"I bet that these iron supports were not at first delivered."
Where can you get the confidence from the Cologne still to believe the excuses this mendacious administration?