Karl's Bridge will be repaired in sections and while in operation

PRAGUE - The Charles Bridge in Prague will be repaired in sections and while still in use, albeit limited. The construction work on the bridge deck is expected to last for two years, while the replacement of the stone blocks will take much longer. The costs of the reconstruction of this prime Prague monument are estimated at 250 million crowns, said the mayor's deputy Jan Bürgermeister (ODS) to reporters today.
The project for the repairs was approved by a city commission of experts. "I consider the project to be of high quality," said Ondřej Šefců from the National Heritage Institute. Only essential elements will be changed on the bridge, he added.
The bridge deck will receive a new waterproof insulation. According to Šefců, this is a key issue for the future of the monument. In the past, water flowed into the Vltava. The new drainage system, which was made about 40 years ago, has faults according to the heritage expert, and leaking water is damaging the masonry. The deputy indicated that the city will demand a thirty-year warranty on the insulation.
During the reconstruction, according to Bürgermeister, two bridge spans will be dismantled at a time in a way that a four-meter passage for pedestrians is maintained. If the bridge were completely closed, Prague and the Czech Republic could suffer irreversible damage to tourism, he emphasized. The construction site will be located on the Vltava, the deputy noted.
According to Šefců, organizing the work will be very challenging. The construction site may attract souvenir collectors. The commission agreed to have a roof built over the area where workers will be working. It could rain for a week, and it would be unfortunate for water to remain trapped in the bridge under a quality insulation, said Šefců.
So far, experts have not been able to find a quarry through trial drilling from which stone for the repairs could be extracted. The stone should be the same as in the medieval period. "We will look in open quarries," said Bürgermeister. The wall between the bridge and Čertovka will also be completed during the bridge repairs, according to him. He hopes that a pedestrian passage to Herget's Brickworks can be built there.
The city commission of experts will meet once more to assess the conditions of the tender for the construction contractor. The building permit could be issued by mid-April. The city has about 70 million crowns allocated in this year's budget for the repair of the monument.
From the perspective of stability, according to some experts, it was most important to anchor two pillars that had not been treated since the flood in 1890. New foundations have been in place since last year.