No, the gateway to Europe did not fold in half as some might have said a little too quickly, but the result is the same. The transfer of the work until its final location was to intervene this Wednesday but it was postponed after damage was noted on the metal deck.
–
While waiting to take up position between the station and the Crauser quay, to allow the movement of pedestrians and cyclists, the whole remains where it has been stored for several months: on the right bank of the river, just in front of the sub-prefecture. That is 400 meters upstream from its terminal destination.
–
The time for expertise
It is difficult to come to conclusions, even partial, as there are so many parameters to be taken into consideration to determine the origin of the problems. From the first hours of the morning, the companies mobilized on this exceptional site came to scrutinize the damage: two traces which, to the naked eye, look like cracks hidden under the layer of white paint. Fighting action: engineers, designers, design offices got together urgently to establish a procedure.
First, with a final decision: no question of continuing the operation of transferring the gateway (started the day before) to its final location.
At the beginning of the afternoon, the regional director of the company Demathieu Bard, who supervises all the work, appeared with his face closed and clenched teeth. He very briefly announced the postponement of the installation of the catwalk, without going further. He just evokes “technical reasons, probably linked to the transfer”, and promises a new intervention “as soon as possible”.
In the meantime, the time for analysis is underway. The battle of the experts will follow. The repairs will bring up the rear but impossible to advance any delay.
–
Planning challenged
These unfortunate events postpone the installation of the pedestrian and cycle bridge until further notice. In any case, nothing should change for several months; which will postpone the commissioning initially planned for the spring. For the municipality, this is obviously very annoying; the entire work schedule for the Moselle shores sector is upset. “The day promised to be under the best auspices so yes, there is a little disappointment”, did not hide Pierre Cuny in front of his guests, Wednesday afternoon.
–
The mayor had made a point of crossing two events: the installation of the footbridge and the signature of an amendment to the convention of revitalization of the city center. Beautiful people were summoned: prefect, president of the Grand Est region, a group of local elected officials and construction and civil engineering professionals… All were to attend the positioning of the bridge between the two shores. Postponed.
–
