City Council to Decide on Design for Dresden's Carolabrücke

With regard to the reconstruction of the Carolabrücke, the Dresden City Council has chosen the design that won the public vote. FHECOR and TSSB intend to incorporate the characteristic arches of the historic bridge. The goal is to create a contemporary, lightweight, yet classic bridge for Dresden. The design—which had won over the advisory committee for the Carolabrücke’s reconstruction and was created by the planning team of LAP and Knight Architects—narrowly failed to pass the City Council.

The goal is to submit a design ready for approval by early 2027. Following the City Council’s decision, the call for bids for construction work is scheduled for early October 2027. Construction is set to begin in May 2028 and be completed in 2031. The costs are estimated at up to 140 million euros.

The former Carolabrücke in Dresden—a prestressed concrete structure from the GDR era—unexpectedly partially collapsed on the night of September 11, 2024. No one was injured. However, the two remaining bridge spans were so severely damaged that they had to be completely demolished. The cause of the collapse is believed to be corrosion, which led to the failure of the prestressing tendons.