B50 Hochmoselübergang Bridge Deck

Plans for a four-lane highway and bridge through Germany’s Mosel wine-growing region have provoked protests from the world’s wine-lovers and writers, who say it threatens the future of some of the most important Riesling vineyards in the world. The 1,7 km-long, 160 m-high, 29 m-wide bridge across the Mosel is scheduled for completion in 2016. Estimated to cost € 330 million (US$ 405 million) the bridge and new four-lane, 35.5 m-wide, 250 km-long B50 Autobahn, will feed traffic through a forest that provides water to steep, slate-soil slopes. Germany says the bridge and Autobahn are vital to improve transport links with Frankfurt-Hahn airport, a budget airline destination owned by Rheinland-Pfalz. The state government hopes the Autobahn will make the airport a cargo hub for Belgium and the Netherlands.