H. Králové received dozens of proposals for a footbridge across the Elbe from architects

Hradec Králové - The City Hall of Hradec Králové has so far received several dozen proposals from architects for the design of a new footbridge over the Elbe. The architectural competition was announced by the city hall at the beginning of December, with a deadline in March. More proposals may still come in, and the high number of submissions so far has surprised the city hall. Jindřich Vedlich (TOP 09), the deputy mayor, told ČTK today. The city has been striving for the construction of the footbridge for over ten years.
    "The number of proposals we have received so far has pleasantly surprised us. We hope that there will be plenty to choose from," said Vedlich. The footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists is intended to connect the Šimkovy Sady area and the Aldis Congress Center with Karel IV. Avenue in the city center. Architects are to design the footbridge in such a way that its cost does not exceed 40 million crowns. The city hall anticipates announcing the results of the architectural competition in April.
    The city hall already built a pedestrian boulevard in the Aldis area in 2003 for nearly 23 million crowns. A footbridge was supposed to follow. However, according to the original project, it was necessary to fell an oak tree on the bank of the Elbe, which was successfully protested against by environmentalists. The new solution for the footbridge will allow for construction without having to cut down the oak tree.
    The footbridge is expected to be 67 meters long and at least 4.5 meters wide. Architects are not specified on what material it should be made of. However, in their proposals, they must take into account the space for the safe movement of migrating birds.
    The city hall would like to obtain funding for the construction of the footbridge from EU subsidy titles in the new programming period for the years 2014 to 2020.