Conveyor bridge at Jänschwalde opencast mine to be demolished: lakes and renewable energy to shape the post-mining landscape in future

With the demolition by controlled blasting of the overburden conveyor bridge (F60) at Jänschwalde opencast mine on Thursday, 5 February 2026, a chapter in Lusatian mining history will come to a close. After more than 45 years of operation, the overburden conveyor bridge was taken out of service at the beginning of 2024 and has been prepared over the past few months for blasting and subsequent scrapping. Since the mid-1970s, it has moved around 3.5 billion cubic metres of earth, thereby exposing around 14 million tonnes of lignite per year. Coal that was used in the nearby Jänschwalde power plant to generate electricity and heat. Two Es 3750 excavators, as well as a feeder bridge connected to the F60, were already demolished in mid-December.

“For more than a generation of miners, the F60 at the Jänschwalde opencast mine was not only a technical marvel that had to be kept running, but the heart of their daily work. My thanks and respect go to all the miners for their tireless commitment. Together with their colleagues at the power plant, they made an important contribution to security of supply over the decades,” said LEAG CEO Adi Roesch. “In recent years, we have already begun shaping the future of the post-mining landscape at Jänschwalde: lakes, forests, agriculture and renewable energies, combined with large-scale storage facilities, will in future shape this stretch of land between Cottbus and Forst and make the transformation of this region visible.”

“For decades, Jänschwalde opencast mine has supplied reliable energy to Germany as an industrial location, come rain or shine. For this, the men and women in the mining industry deserve our collective – and my own deeply felt – gratitude and respect,” said Minister-President Dr Dietmar Woidke. “With the demolition of the F60 conveyor bridge, we are now witnessing an emotional moment: an era is visibly coming to an end. A new landscape is emerging and a new future is growing out of coal. Jänschwalde and Lusatia are demonstrating that they are shaping this transition.”

The controlled blasting of the conveyor bridge will take place under strict safety regulations. A large exclusion zone will be established on the site, and entry to this area will be prohibited. In addition, the general ban on public access and drone flights over the LEAG site applies. In response to public interest, a live stream will be made available online. From around 10.45 am, the link https://youtube.com/live/2GvG4xc3Vrg?feature=share will be active; the demolition is scheduled to take place at around 11 am. 

The dismantling and scrapping of all opencast mining equipment is expected to be completed by this autumn. This will allow work to continue on the development of the three post-mining lakes: Heinersbrücker See, Jänschwalder See and Taubendorfer See. At the same time, LEAG’s Gigawatt Factory is taking shape in the Jänschwalder post-mining landscape. Construction of the 105 MW Forst Briesnig II wind farm and the first 130 MW section of the Bohrau solar park is due to be completed before the end of this year. The 31 MW Jänschwalde Landfill solar park was already commissioned last year.