The Lautertal Bridge is a steel structure consisting of continuous 3.2-meter-high girders. The bridge, with its five spans of 48, 56, 64, 56, and 48 meters, rests on six rammed concrete piers clad in regionally typical red sandstone. Due to spring water seeping into the excavation pit, the foundations of two piers had to be constructed between sheet piles. The abutments are also made of rammed concrete with sandstone facing. Initial plans for a northern bypass of Kaiserslautern were drawn up as early as 1928. The route for the motorway section was prepared in 1934. The Lautertal Bridge was built in 1936 by the local Kaiserslautern ironworks. The section of the autobahn between Kaiserslautern-West and Wattenheim was opened on October 24, 1937. In 1942, work on the Reichsautobahn was finally halted due to World War II. Initially, the route served German troops as a fast connection to the Western Front; later, the Allies used it for their advance. However, the Lautertal Bridge was blown up on the night of March 20, 1945, just hours before the arrival of the Americans. This destruction did not significantly delay the American advance, as the obstacle was simply bypassed by the advancing troops. Clearing the debris began as early as 1946, primarily to make the road from Kaiserslautern to Otterbach below passable again. A total of 1,600 tons of steel had to be removed. However, it wasn't until the east-west axis through the city was expanded that the reconstruction of the Lautertal Bridge began, partly by the Kaiserslautern Ironworks. On April 20, 1954, a new section of the bridge collapsed, but no one was injured. This accident significantly delayed completion. While the motorway eastbound from the Kaiserslautern-East interchange had been finished since 1951, the Lautertal Bridge wasn't opened to traffic until October 15, 1956, without any official ceremony. (Source: Wikipedia) As of early 2011, the A6 motorway is being expanded, and a new bridge is being built to replace the Lautertal Bridge.