This is the moment a massive bridge joining two sides of a German valley is blasted to smithereens as footage captures it falling from a record height of 230 feet.

The demolition of the Rinsdorf viaduct, which allows the A45 motorway to cross the valley, took place on the motorway near Wilnsdorf, a municipality in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, at 11am on Sunday, 6th February.

Die Autobahn GmbH, which since January 2021 operates all of Germany’s motorways, shared the footage online and said: “The concrete colossus fell 70 metres as planned onto the prepared fall bed.

“Never before has a bridge this high in Germany been blown to the ground. Eight pairs of pillars folded like a folding ruler, with the superstructure falling vertically to the ground.”

The 500-metre- (1,640-foot-) long bridge was 55 years old, and demolition expert Michael Schneider said: “It was a picture-book blast.”

The blast had to be carefully calculated so that the bridge would fall onto the prepared bed below without damaging the replacement bridge that can be seen next to the obsolete one shortly before it is blown to smithereens.

Numerous onlookers from the nearby town reportedly showed up to watch the spectacle.

Elfriede Sauerwein-Braksiek, Director of the Westphalia Motorway Network, said after the demolition: “The successful blasting is an important step for the new building in Rinsdorf.

“The long preparation for this day shows the complex tasks that the team of the Westphalia Motorway Network on the Sauerland line has had to face when building the viaducts.”

There are reportedly 15 viaducts currently under construction in the state, with a total of 60 in need of replacement or urgent repair.