<Barrandovský most> is the busiest communication in <Praha>

Prague - The Barrandov Bridge, still the third youngest bridge in Prague over the Vltava River, could be partially used by motorists as early as September 1983, but it was not officially opened until November 3, 1988. The construction was initially named after the second communist president Antonín Zápotocký, and it received its current name in January 1990. From the beginning, the bridge has been one of the main thoroughfares in Prague, with 142,000 vehicles crossing it daily, making it one of the most heavily trafficked sections of the road network in the Czech Republic.

"Its architectural design and integration into the landscape dignitively represent the level of our engineering and bridge construction of the 1980s," wrote the Czechoslovak Press Agency on the day of the bridge's opening, which was attended by top government and party officials. The bridge took more than ten years to build, and like many other public structures of that era, it was adorned with artistic works, in this case, concrete sculptures by sculptor Josef Klimeš.

On the right bank stands a piece called Balance, which has received the nickname "the conquering worm" from people, while on the left bank there are two concrete basins known as "hippo bath" or "elephant feeder." However, the bridge also became a place for unofficial culture, as the extensive concrete surfaces became a popular site for graffiti artists after 1989. Although the city tried to combat this and often had very elaborate works painted over, in July 2001, part of the bridge was designated for legal creation.

The bridge, which began construction in spring 1978 and cost almost half a billion then-crowns, is one of only two inclined crossings over the Vltava in Prague - and the only one intended for road traffic. Its angle of intersection with the flow is 53 degrees, while the Holešovice railway bridge crosses the river under Bulovka at an angle of 45 degrees. The Barrandov Bridge is 352 meters long and 40 meters wide, with the roadway sitting 15 meters above the surface of the Vltava. Vehicles pass over it in eight lanes.

Efforts to bridge the Vltava where the Barrandov Bridge now stands date back over 200 years. Close by, upstream, there used to be a pontoon bridge in 1756 during the siege of Prague by King Frederick II of Prussia. The idea of building a bridge remained alive during the First Republic, with considerations given to two bridges at different heights. After World War II, only a single bridge was contemplated, and in 1976, the option of an inclined crossing was chosen.

The Barrandov Bridge represents the most extensive bridge construction in Prague and has an irreplaceable place in the Prague transport system; as early as the turn of the century, more than 100,000 cars passed over it daily. After the opening of the southwest section of the Prague Ring Road in 2010, most trucks disappeared from it - as it served as a link from other parts of Prague to the D5 highway to Pilsen - and the traffic intensity dropped to 80,000 vehicles, but it then began to rise again to the current 142,000 cars daily.

Traffic complications on the bridge affect the entire city of Prague, whether due to accidents or reconstruction. The bridge underwent renovations from 2006 to 2007, but it now needs repairs again. In 2013, there were reports of local damage to the waterproofing, but a report from 2015 indicated that "by 2020 at the latest, it will be necessary to carry out the replacement of the entire pavement structure, including waterproofing, repair of the expansion joints, and drainage system."

Since the complete opening of the Barrandov Bridge, only two other crossings over the Vltava have been built in Prague. In September 2010, the more than two-kilometer-long Radotín Bridge on the Prague Ring Road was opened, followed by the road and tram Troja Bridge four years later, which connects to the Blanka tunnel complex. Following last year’s collapse of the Troja pedestrian footbridge, there are currently a total of 18 bridges in Prague spanning the entire width of the Vltava. Of these, 13 are road bridges, eight are tram bridges, and four are railway and pedestrian bridges.