The Libeň Bridge would become a dam holding back water in the event of a flood

Prague - The sculptures at the Libeň Bridge in Prague would act as a dam holding back water in the event of flooding. They do not allow enough water to pass through. This was stated today by representatives of the Technical Council, which addressed the condition of the Libeň Bridge for Prague. According to the commission, water is also leaking into the bridge, the concrete is degraded, and the cement has leached out of the structure. They proposed to demolish the bridge and build a new one, which some politicians and civic associations do not like. The bridge, built in 1928, has never been repaired.

The bridge over the river has arches through which water flows, but the connecting bridges do not allow water to flow through them. This could cause a problem during larger floods. "You have five spans across the river and next to it a dam, which connects to thirteen openings and only two are usable for water flow. The others are bricked up, for example with glass bricks, or there are stairs over them. So the capacity for flow is extremely small. The builders weren't concerned about this at the time because there was a meadow around that was flooded. That's not possible today. That's why I'm talking about the Libeň dam," said the designer and bridge engineer Václav Mach to ČTK.

According to Mach, it would also not be financially viable to build a new so-called flood bridge towards Libeň, under which water would flow. It would be narrow, just like the current bridge over the river, which does not meet today's standards.

The concrete parts are degraded, as are the frame structures, and the bridge's reinforcement is corroded, chunks of concrete have fallen off, and the stairs are also damaged. "Even the conservationists agree that it must be demolished and that repair is not possible," said Vítek.

Another problem, according to the commission, is that the individual arches do not "cooperate," which is said to be dangerous. "Trams create dynamic loads, and today's regulations do not allow for a concrete structure that is subjected to dynamic loading," said Vítek. Representatives of the council reiterated that building a new bridge will be cheaper for Prague and will be completed sooner. Annual maintenance will also be cheaper, and the new bridge will have a longer lifespan.

There have been disputes about the reconstruction or demolition of the bridge for years. Some politicians and residents advocate for repairs, considering the bridge designed by Pavel Janák and František Mencel to be architecturally and historically valuable. The fate of the bridge has also been addressed in the past by the Ministry of Culture, but it has not declared it a cultural monument.