UNESCO Wants Tunnel, Not Bridge To Be Built In German Heritage Site

March 8, 2008 10:57 a.m. EST

New York, N.Y. (AHN) - International experts from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recommended Friday the building of a tunnel instead of a bridge at Germany's Dresden Elbe Valley so the site can retain its World Heritage status.

The experts made the recommendation after studying the bridge design plan of Dresden city aimed at easing traffic congestion. The experts concluded that such structure will destroy the beautiful landscape and ruin the views of Dresden's famous baroque and other historic buildings.

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee is hoping that German authorities will preserve the 11-mile (18-kilometer) cultural landscape of the Dresden Elbe Valley. Last year, the committee ruled that the site will be deleted from the World Heritage list if the construction of a bridge there causes "an irreversible impact on the outstanding universal value of the property."

World Heritage List, which began in 1978, features 851 natural or cultural sites deemed to have outstanding universal value. So far, only one site, the Arabian Oryx Sanctuary of Oman, due to the failure of the country to meet its conservation obligations.