The Negrelli Viaduct is the second oldest standing bridge in Prague

Prague - The Negrelli Viaduct, which began serving passengers in June 1850, was then the first railway bridge over the Vltava in Prague. Today, it is the second oldest Vltava crossing in Prague after the Charles Bridge and, with 1,110 meters, also the longest bridge in the Czech capital. However, for the last three years, instead of passenger trains, the viaduct has been occupied by builders who have thoroughly reconstructed Negrelli's work. The bridge will reopen for traffic on June 1st, 170 years after the passage of the first train.

Even in the 1840s, people in Prague could only make use of two bridges over the Vltava. Besides the ancient Charles Bridge, there was the Emperor Francis I Bridge, now known as the Legions Bridge, opened in November 1841. However, the rapidly developing railway needed additional crossings, which were essential for the continuation of the Northern State Railway from Prague to Dresden. Its construction was decided by the railway administration in 1842, when an interstate agreement was also signed between Austria and Saxony.

It is said that the all-powerful Chancellor Klemens von Metternich commented on this invention by noting that primarily rogues and revolutionaries would use it to export their subversive activities to all distant corners of Europe. What is certain is that the construction was to be entrusted to the proven Jan Perner, who, as the chief engineer, led the construction of the line between Olomouc and Prague. Unfortunately, his premature death in September 1845 due to an accident during the opening of the Choceň tunnel thwarted everything.

In his place was appointed the no less capable surveyor, engineer Alois Negrelli, who built mountain roads and railway lines in the Austrian and Swiss Alps and later gained fame for his project of the Suez Canal. Work on the Empire-style stone viaduct began in the spring of 1846. The construction was carried out by the companies Bratři Kleinové and Vojtěch Lanna, with costs amounting to one and a half million guilders. At that time, it was the largest railway construction in Europe, employing 3,000 workers of Czech, German, and Italian nationality.

The material, transported by water from Kamýk nad Vltavou and worked on site, was granite from the Schwarzenberg quarry, which is now submerged by the Orlík Reservoir; the pillars were clad in sandstone. This construction saw the first large-scale use of lifting machines. The length of the viaduct was 1,110 m, the original width for a double-track line was 7.6 m, and after the removal of the stone parapet, a full nine meters. The viaduct had 87 high arches, eight of which were directly in the Vltava.

Upon completion, the viaduct made an impressive impression, its elegant lines reminiscent of the magnificent aqueducts of ancient Rome. Because of this, it was captured by artists in numerous views and photographic panoramas. Art historian Zdeněk Wirth called the viaduct a manifestation of the monumentality of the Empire style in the field of technical constructions. After two decades of operation, in 1871, a brick Karlín connecting viaduct was added to it for direct connection between Buben and Libeň.

In the 20th century, however, the Negrelli—sometimes also referred to as the Karlín—viaduct suffered several insensitive interventions. Some arches were temporarily bricked up and converted into storage spaces. The original uniform appearance of the structure was also disrupted by the replacement of several arches with concrete constructions. Between 1952 and 1953, three of the arches over Křižíková Street in Karlín were removed to improve the passage of motor vehicles, and in 1981, the same was repeated for the same reasons over Bubenské nábřeží.

Just like the Charles Bridge, the viaduct withstood the flood in August 2002 during full operation, as it was designed based on the flood of 1845. The long-delayed reconstruction of this technical cultural monument began in July 2017; however, it became apparent during the 1.5 billion crown works that it was in worse condition than expected, and the work was extended by six months. The result will be not only a new shining viaduct but also a more capacious line, prepared for the planned train connection between the center of Prague and the airport.