<p>It has been 35 years since the opening of the Nusle Bridge</p>

Prague - The Nusle Bridge is one of the key structures of Prague's transportation system, as evidenced by the number of cars that pass over it daily. It is also an interesting technical and architectural work that has won the title of Construction of the Century in its category. However, the bridge, which will have been open for 35 years this Friday, is also notorious as a place where hundreds of suicides have ended their lives by jumping into the forty-meter abyss.
The design of the structure, which spans the Nusle valley and connects Pankrác with Karlov, is the result of an architectural competition held at the turn of the fifties and sixties. The winning proposal came from a trio of architects from the Institute of Transport and Engineering Works: Vojtěch Michálek, Stanislav Hubička, and Svatopluk Kobra. The project included a two-level reinforced concrete structure, with the upper part reserved for road traffic, while the hollow body of the bridge concealed metro tracks or an underground tramway. The technical and aesthetic solutions proved effective, and in 2000 the Nusle Bridge even received the Construction of the Century award in the category of transportation structures.
The construction of the bridge began in 1965. It progressed relatively quickly, allowing for a stress test in the fall of 1970, which utilized 66 tanks lined up on the still-unfinished deck. The official opening took place only at the end of February 1973, attended by prominent representatives of "party, state, and public life," as reported by contemporary press. The bridge was named after Klement Gottwald from its opening until May 1990.
With a length of 485 meters and a width of 26 meters, the bridge represented and still represents one of the largest structures made of prestressed concrete in the Czech Republic. Five bridge spans with a trapezoidal cross-section are supported by four pillars, the construction of which required the demolition of 17 buildings on Svatopluk Street and the surrounding area. The building consumed around 20,000 cubic meters of the highest quality concrete.
A tube, with walls only 30 centimeters thick in some places, accommodates a two-track metro line. However, the operation on line C posed a serious problem for the structure. The original plans accounted for the deployment of significantly lighter train sets than the Soviet-made cars that were ultimately purchased. As a result, there was increased stress on the bridge's structure, which the designers attempted to alleviate by installing a steel grid to better distribute the weight of the metro cars. However, cracks began to appear over time, leading to extensive repairs at the end of the 1990s.
Although the competition that resulted in the current design of the Nusle Bridge took place only at the end of the fifties, the actual plan to bridge the deep Botice valley dates back to the early 20th century. In 1903, engineer Jaroslav Marjanko proposed a steel bridge that would replace the steep and inconvenient ascent via the Vyšehrad serpentine road. However, the ambitious project was unsuccessful.
During the interwar period, this possibility was of great interest, particularly to the pioneer of Czech concrete construction, Stanislav Bechyně. He gradually submitted several proposals, the most interesting of which was the one from 1938, in collaboration with architect Bohumír Kozák. The similarity of their solution to the present appearance of the bridge is striking.
However, it is not the interesting past or technical solution that regularly draws media attention to the Nusle Bridge. Shortly after its opening, the structure became a popular spot for suicides. The total number of jumpers who ended their lives here is unknown. According to some estimates, it was more than 200 people, while other reports suggest it was about a hundred more.