Monika Frömgen, deputy spokesperson for the civil engineering bureau of the City of Bonn, said that the ground conditions were different than preliminary examinations indicated. She explained that ground or soil conditions are tested as part of the road construction work to make sure the quality is high enough to withstand a sufficient amount of pressure. Workers determined that the road did not have a high enough load-bearing capacity.

“Test samples were taken in coordination with the road surveyor to determine which measures were most suitable,” said Frömgen. The result is that the gravel base has to be strengthened with ten centimeters more gravel and a textile grid has to be built in for stabilizing the subsoil.

“The test areas will be removed again. It is not the new foundation that is being dug up,” explained Frömgen. As well, the old frost protection layer must also be removed. The work has been hampered by the heavy rain in the last weeks. The spokeswoman also said work on water drainage system was more intensive than initially planned.

This week, the road base should be put down so that the street can be used again. The next phase of work on Steubenring will be completed in September. Again, they will be testing a portion of that road for load capacity.

One resident in the neighborhood wrote to GA that residents had praise for the construction workers carrying out the road work. The writer felt that nearly all the residents found the construction crews to be “a really great group”. They kept a clean and tidy construction area, and were considerate of parked cars in the area, something the writer “had personally not experienced before.”

(Original text: Bettina Köhl; Translation: ckloep)