Switzerland Dismantles Explosives Fitted On Bridge During the Cold War

FT reports:

Like numerous other crossings between Switzerland and Germany, the bridge linking Bad Säckingen on the German side with Stein in Switzerland was fitted with explosives so that it could be detonated in the event of an attack.

The incendiary devices were part of a last-ditch defensive system built to protect Switzerland during the cold war. It is only now, 25 years after the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, that the last vestiges of that system are being dismantled...

At its peak, the Swiss defensive network involved roughly 2,000 separate structures fitted with explosives. These ranged from bridges to tunnels — such as the Gotthard tunnel through the Alps — to roads and airstrips