Green bridge

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wild bridge over the A 14 near Schwerin
Map: 84 green bridges over motorways and federal highways in Germany, as of 2020
A green bridge over the A50 near Woeste Hoeve in the Netherlands
Ecoduct Kikbeek A2 green bridge in Belgium
Green bridge over the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park between Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian province of Alberta

A green bridge or wildlife bridge is a bridge that enables wild animals to safely cross heavily used traffic routes such as motorways , federal highways and railways . Green bridges connect wildlife habitats that have been cut up by traffic routes and are intended to alleviate the consequences of the increasing fragmentation of the landscape .

Wildlife bridges are being built in Europe, North America and Australia.

Structure and classification

For game to use a green bridge according to its purpose, it must meet certain requirements. So have wild bridges a minimum width of 50 meters, as a rule, so she from larger animals such as deer are accepted. The term green bridge is used especially for larger widths and vegetation. The width of the bridges varies and can be more than 80 meters. In this case, the crossing structure is called a landscape tunnel. There are also bridges for small animals that are only a few meters wide.

The location of the crossing point also plays a special role: Green bridges are built at well-known game passages in order to guide the animals across the bridge as easily as possible. In order to block the view of the traffic routes to be crossed, the side edges of the bridge are often planted like a hedge, with the remaining area of ​​the bridge usually being planted. In general, these are perennials, grass and bushes.

The West Autobahn in Austria was enclosed by a green bridge in the area of ​​the city of Salzburg (exit Salzburg-Mitte) , which serves to restore the original village of Liefering , which was divided by the Autobahn, as a settlement area. There is a park above the motorway.

Use

Studies of the biological effectiveness of green bridges have shown that they contribute to a large extent to the connection of habitats. They are not only used to cross by larger wild animals, but also by invertebrates such as butterflies, spiders and beetles. According to an investigation by the Eberswalde State Forestry Agency, which was carried out from May 2005 to April 2006, almost 2,300 wild animals passed a green bridge over the A 11 in Brandenburg. In a series of tests on a bridge in Croatia over the motorway between Karlovac and Rijeka , researchers used infrared barriers to measure animal movements. Animals the size of a fox were recorded. Within a year around 6,000 animals passed this bridge, including bears , wolves and lynxes . Infrared photo traps were used in the investigations.

Green bridges have a connecting function and help to reduce accidents involving wildlife .

Alternatives

Thalwassertalbrücke: crossing under the A71 at Poppenlauer in Lower Franconia

Wild bridges are also suitable for crossing traffic routes. However, these should not be less than ten meters in height, otherwise they will be poorly accepted by some species. Of ungulates are tunnels avoided. In addition, there is the possibility of allowing small animals or amphibians to safely cross traffic routes in the form of small animal tunnels / small animal passages. These tubes can be used by amphibians , but also by small mammals such as badgers or otters . It should be noted that the opposite opening is recognizable as an exit for the changing animal species.

costs

According to ADAC information, the construction costs per green bridge in Germany amount to one to three million euros. If a green bridge is built together with a motorway, it is cheaper to build than if it is built afterwards.

Executions

Germany

In Germany there are currently 82 green bridges over motorways or federal roads, including landscape bridges and tunnels, but without mined tunnels and without small animal tunnels (as of September 2019). The ADAC, the BUND and other associations see a significantly higher demand. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation is assuming 30,000 "conflict points" in the supra-regional transport network. A large part of the animals that die in Germany as a result of “non-hunting effects” ( fallen game ) die at such danger spots : this is 202,000 roe deer, 16,000 wild boar and 3,100 deer every year.

As part of the economic stimulus package II , some wilderness bridges were planned and decided, for example in the state of Brandenburg and four bridges near Geldern . Such a 50 meter wide green bridge costs an average of three million euros. The State Hunting Association of North Rhine-Westphalia supports the bridges because it hopes that they will reduce inbreeding in some wild species. Red deer in particular are affected.

There is at least one completed green bridge at the following locations:

Info Simple.svg In the articles of the federal motorways and roads, finished and planned green bridges are listed in the lists of interchanges and structures and marked with this green symbol AB-Brücke-gruen.png.

Austria

The first scientific request for wild bridges came with the construction of the east highway in 1987 in the course of the Alps-Carpathian corridor . This requirement was not met. Only in 1997 after the publication of the Wildlife Protection Directive (RVS 3.01) were further investigations carried out on motorways and expressways. According to these calculations, 84 tunnels and overpasses as well as 422 underpasses with a width of more than 30 m result for the then current length of 2000 kilometers of superordinate roads.

In Austria, ASFINAG built the Bärentunnel with a length of 91 meters on the Süd Autobahn in Carinthia in 2004 , as the area is in the Natura 2000 area Schütt-Graschelitzen and part of the LIFE-Nature project 'Schütt - Dobratsch 'is.

There are also green bridges over the Danube bank autobahn at Jedlesee , in the Eibesbrunn – Schrick section of the north autobahn , at Parndorfer Platte over the east autobahn , over the Innkreis autobahn (since 2003) south of Wels , as well as over ÖBB routes , e.g. B. in the area of ​​the Koralm Railway .

ASFINAG plans to complete a green bridge near Ybbs over the A1 in November 2015 . With St. Valentin and St. Georgen am Ybbsfelde (both in the Amstetten district) the construction of 16 green bridges is planned between 2016 and 2027. Typically, they are 60 m wide, planted with bushes and trees and equipped with a privacy screen against car headlights.

See also

literature

  • Heinrich Reck, Kersten Hänel, Martin Strein, Bertram Georgii, Michael Henneberg, Elke Peters-Ostenberg, Marita Böttcher: Green bridges, fauna tunnels and animal passages - requirements for crossing aids. (=  BfN scripts . No. 522 ). Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn 2019, doi : 10.19217 / skr522 ( bfn.de [PDF; 5.9 MB ] full text).
  • Melina Cipriotti: Efficiency of a green bridge using the example of “Burkauer Berg” on the A4 federal motorway. In: Nature conservation work in Saxony. 48th year 2006, pages 53–58 ( digitized version ).
  • Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach (ed.): Wild animals and traffic. (PDF). An Annotated Bibliography , Chapter 5 (pp. 61–75), 2000, comprehensive literature collection and summary.

Web links

Commons : Green Bridges  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Explanation of the map of green bridges: Green bridges, landscape bridges and landscape tunnels with a minimum width of 10 m are shown. Some of these bridges lead to paths that are also open to pedestrians and vehicles.
  2. ↑ DIN 1076 differentiation between bridge and tunnel from a length of 80 meters ( Memento from June 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 199 kB)
  3. ↑ Reinhard Möckel: Use of a redesigned road bridge as an animal crossing aid in Brandenburg . Species Protection Report 2010, no. 26, pp. 45–49.
  4. ↑ Laura Schameitat: Grünbrücke is a success. In: Rheinische Post. February 18, 2012 (page C4 Schwalmtal / Brügfgen / Niederkrüchten)
  5. ^ A b ADAC: Green Bridges for Bambi and Co. ADAC Motorwelt. Issue 4, 2008. B2706E. P. 76 f.
  6. ↑ a b Anne Goch: Crossing aid for wild animals. In: Rheinische Post. August 11, 2010: “The green bridge on the A 52 cost around 2.3 million euros because it was built in one go with the motorway. If it is retrofitted, the costs are around 3.5 million euros. "
  7. ↑ Jagd Online - German Hunting Protection Association: Data and facts
  8. ↑ Torsten Hampel: Courage to bridge. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 16, 2015 ( tagesspiegel.de ).
  9. ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: A3 / L284: Green bridges completed )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.strassen.nrw.de
  10. ↑ Information sheet on green bridges A3
  11. ↑ a b NDR: Wildbrücken: People have no business here. June 4, 2019, accessed January 12, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Wild surely changes sides , Gmünder Tagespost of December 21, 2011
  13. ↑ Grünbrücke A 9, BW 13 Ü 0 , Landesbetrieb Straßenwesen des Landes Brandenburg, December 2011.
  14. ↑ Grünbrücke A 12, BW 15 Ü 2a , Landesbetrieb Straßenwesen des Landes Brandenburg, November 2012.
  15. ↑ Reinhard Möckel: Use of a redesigned road bridge as an animal crossing aid in Brandenburg . Species Protection Report 2010, no. 26, pp. 45–49.
  16. ^ Grünbrücke A 13, BW 9 Ü 3 , Landesbetrieb Straßenwesen des Landes Brandenburg, December 2011.
  17. ^ Lower Saxony State Authority for Road Construction and Transport
  18. ↑ Europe's largest green bridge made of wood leads over B 101 , Land Brandenburg March 19, 2013.
  19. ^ Roads and Game in Austria , ( MS PowerPoint ; 12.3 MB) from the Federal Environment Agency, November 27, 2003, accessed on March 5, 2019.
  20. ↑ EU bird sanctuary Schütt-Graschelitzen
  21. ↑ ASFINAG: New green bridge “Bärentunnel” secures game crossing over the A 2 south motorway in Carinthia's Natura 2000 area Schütt - Graschelitzen. dated August 27, 2004, accessed September 21, 2010.
  22. ↑ Bridge for wild animals over the motorway. In: orf.at. October 26, 2015, accessed March 5, 2019 .