On 8 March 2021, the Federal Chamber of Engineers and the German Association of Consulting Engineers (VBI) recognised the winning teams in the German Bridge Construction Prize with a virtual award ceremony. Michael Borowski of GRASSL received the award for the Rethe bascule bridge.

This was presented by the President of the Federal Chamber of Engineers, Dr.-Ing. Heinrich Bökamp, and the President of the VBI, Jörg Thiele. In his welcome address, the Secretary of State at the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, Dr Michael Güntner, made special mention of this outstanding feat of engineering (see photo).

The double-leaf Rethe Bascule Bridge for rail and road traffic has been distinguished by the German Bridge Construction Prize because its innovative structure provides a highly sophisticated solution to a challenging task and its closing mechanism is unique in all Europe.

"A masterpiece in terms of proportion and precision" was the verdict of the panel of expert judges. We are grateful for the expert appraisal of this masterly feat of engineering technology. In compliance with COVID safety measures and subject to prior testing for COVID, we attended the award ceremony in a small group. We are delighted that Mr Karlheinz Pröpping and Mr Jörg Kapusta from the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) accepted our invitation to this modest event.