The vaunted German highways cracked because of the heat

Germany will carry out emergency repair work on its famous highways this weekend after the intense heat of recent days led to cracks in the concrete layer on several sections of the highway, as reported by Bloomberg.

Temperatures up to 39 degrees Celsius led to the expansion and cracking of concrete on highways in different parts of the country, which provoked severe traffic jams. Since the summer holidays begin on Friday in many German lands, the repair work on the weekend will further affect traffic.

Cracks occur when concrete expands and has nowhere to go, which leads to ruptures. The old, heavily used highways or highways that do not have asphalt pavement suffer the most. The German authorities have prepared for such a development by lowering the speed limit on old sections of roads in the summer, which is an important measure in the only nationalized country where there is no general speed limit on motorways.

Although work to repair the damage caused by the abnormal heat in Germany has already begun, a section of the motorway in the busy Ruhr region (in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia) will be completely closed in one direction from Friday evening to Monday morning to close potholes and cracks.

While in Germany a heat wave will cause discontent among drivers preparing for a vacation, in other parts of Europe the consequences are much more serious. The Greek island of Crete is struggling with forest fires that have forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists. In Spain, Italy and France, extreme heat has caused several deaths.