Update April 10: The suspicion of a world war bomb was not confirmed.
Since Monday, April 8, 2024, a company had been carrying out exploratory drilling on behalf of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service of the Düsseldorf district government. The experts drilled a total of 37 boreholes seven meters deep in a specific grid around the suspected site in the intersection area with minimal vibration.
After two anomalies were found in the soil on Tuesday, April 9, the two sites were examined on Wednesday morning, April 10. No explosive ordnance was found. There are old, "dead" pipes in the ground. The Kreuzbergweg/Wegelerstraße junction will now be provisionally restored. The junction is expected to be open to traffic again from Friday, April 12.
After the civil engineering office and Stadtwerke Bonn have uncovered the utility lines such as electricity, water, sewage and telephone lines running in the intersection area in the past few days, experts will be probing the ground by drilling on behalf of the explosive ordnance disposal service of the Düsseldorf district government from April 8. The probing work is expected to take one and a half to two days.
As the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service has informed the city council, 37 boreholes seven meters deep will be drilled into the ground in a specific grid with minimal vibration. If no anomaly is found in any of the boreholes, the suspected unexploded bomb is negative.
Evacuation possible within a radius of 300 to 500 meters
If there is an unexploded bomb in the ground that needs to be defused, the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service will determine the danger zone to be closed and the evacuation radius around the site. With a radius of 300 meters, around 2,100 residents would be affected, as would, for example, the Poppelsdorf campus of the University of Bonn, institutes of the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Gymnasium, kindergartens, doctors' surgeries, pharmacies and all employers in this area (see graphic).
With a radius of 500 meters, around 5,800 residents would probably have to leave their homes. This radius also includes Poppelsdorf Palace and Botanical Gardens, the Bonn-Außenstadt tax office, the LVR State Museum Bonn and parts of the Poppelsdorf shopping area on Clemens-August-Straße (see graphic). In addition, several main roads (Meckenheimer Allee, Baumschulallee, Endenicher Allee, Wittelsbacherring, Poppelsdorfer Allee) would have to be closed and private traffic and local public transport would have to be diverted.
Both Bonn Central Station and the A565 freeway are outside the 500-meter radius and would not be affected.
Initial information already provided
The city administration has already informed residents living in the immediate vicinity of the intersection about the upcoming investigation by means of an information letter and a press release. At the same time, it has informed the university and the UKB, among others; it will now also inform the tax office, the LVR State Museum, the EMA and kindergartens in the surrounding area. In addition, the public will now be informed via the city's website, social media channels and the media.
Josef-Strunck-Halle would be the place to go
In the event of a necessary evacuation, the regulatory authority, supported by the fire and rescue services and Bonn's public utilities, would implement the following measures:
- Setting up a command post in the parking lot of the "Pop-Mensa" on Endenicher Allee
Information about the "NINA" warning app - Set up the Josef-Strunck-Halle on Röckumstraße in Endenich as a contact point for local residents
Setting up a hotline for those affected - Information via loudspeaker announcements in the streets, combined with a request to people to leave their homes, offices and businesses
- Transportation of e.g. bedridden or physically disabled people by the fire department and rescue service
- Transportation of people to the contact point by buses operated by Stadtwerke Bonn
- Check that homes are empty and that the restricted area has been evacuated
Only then could the experts from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Service begin to defuse the bomb.
Effects on university operations
April 8 is the first day of the summer semester lecture period at the University of Bonn. The university management and the affected faculties have decided that courses in the potential evacuation area will be held online or postponed on April 8 and 9. In addition, experiments and laboratory activities will be prepared in such a way that they can be interrupted and terminated immediately.
Effects on bus services
In the event of a hazard finding, it is necessary for Stadtwerke Bonn to bypass the Meckenheimer Allee and Endenicher Allee area over a wide area, depending on the closure radius. The exact time, extent and duration of the closures will be determined by the SWB Bus und Bahn operations control center in consultation with the coordination group.
Translated with deepl.com (free version)