Nymburk will have the footbridge over the Elbe checked after the collapse of the footbridge in Prague

Nymburk - Nymburk will have the pedestrian bridge over the Elbe inspected this week. It is a bridge of identical construction and from the same designer as the bridge in Prague, which collapsed into the Vltava River on Saturday. According to Nymburk's Deputy Mayor Jan Ritter (Nymburk Democrats), the bridge is in good condition and was last inspected recently, so the city hall does not plan to close it. However, in the future, the bridge is expected to be demolished and replaced with a road bridge.

About 1.5 years ago, Nymburk commissioned a survey of the structural and technical condition of the bridge from a specialized company. According to Ritter, the documentation was recently completed and also contains proposals for necessary measures. "I haven't fully studied the documentation yet; we received it recently. However, it definitely did not state that it should remain entirely without intervention," Ritter said.

Nymburk has now asked the same company for a repeated inspection this week. "It is said to be very likely that a general guideline on how to proceed with similar structures regarding possible risks will be issued this week, as there are several suspension bridges in the Czech Republic, and some are not in good condition. However, this does not apply to Nymburk," Ritter added.

Therefore, Nymburk is not currently considering closing the bridge. Any potential ban on using the bridge would not cause significant complications in the city, as there is a road bridge just a few meters away. Although pedestrian access to it is prohibited, there are sidewalks for pedestrians on the bridge.

In the future, Nymburk plans to demolish the bridge and build a bridge in its place that will also serve cyclists. However, this is still a proposal that does not have a specific timeline. The eventual construction will depend on the speed of creating a feasibility study.

The bridge in Prague-Troja collapsed into the Vltava River on Saturday afternoon. The accident, in which two people were severely injured and two lightly injured, is being investigated by the police. The city of Prague admits that the bridge between Troja and Císařský Island was in poor condition. However, they claim that the condition was not critical and nothing indicated that the bridge from 1984 should fall. A provisional crossing of the Vltava River will replace it in the near future. The city wants to compensate the injured people.