The repair of the Barrandov Bridge will be twice as expensive, costing 1.14 billion CZK

Prague - The reconstruction of the Barrandov Bridge in Prague will be nearly twice as expensive as originally anticipated. Instead of 594.5 million, it will cost approximately 1.14 billion crowns. The reasons include the very poor condition of the original structure, inflation, and the use of more modern technologies. This was stated to journalists today by the general director of the Technical Administration of Communications (TSK) Filip Hájek. When accounting for the preliminary phase of repairs, in which, among other things, pillars were repaired, the fifth phase, in which the TSK is repairing the surfaces, and payment for the construction manager, the costs will then climb to nearly 1.31 billion crowns.

The Barrandov Bridge consists of two bridges. The southern one, over which cars travel from Smíchov to Braník, has already been repaired. Repairs this year began in March and will last until autumn. The bridge is from 1983 and is crossed daily by over 140,000 cars, making it the busiest road in Prague.

"At the moment, we see that for the first to fourth phases, the increase is quite significant, about 545 million. A large part of that is inflation; we underwent the biggest inflation jump in the last two years. Among other factors, the most important is the impact of UHPC (ultra-high-performance concrete) material, which accounts for about 20 percent of the rest, but the largest part, half of that increase, is due to the complexity of laying UHPC concrete," said Hájek.

The use of UHPC concrete has the advantage over regular concrete in that it acts as insulation and is much more durable. However, it is also about ten times more expensive, costing up to 50,000 crowns per cubic meter. This special concrete was already used by road workers in the first and second phases of repairs last year and the year before. The original structure of the bridge also has a significant impact on the price, which is in much worse condition than the designers and road workers anticipated.

The funds for the repair come from two sources - the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure (SFDI) and the capital city. To cover the higher cost, TSK will transfer available resources from the SFDI for the repair of the bridge. It will take additional funds from projects that it either cannot complete on time or is postponing due to conflicts with the repair of the Barrandov Bridge. The remainder will be obtained from the city.

Workers at the construction site in the fourth phase cleaned the structures and prepared them for the laying of UHPC. They are now checking the original concrete and conducting test probes. At the same time, they are carrying out preparatory work necessary for the installation of new post-tensioning cables for the bridge. Once they prepare the groundwork, the road workers will begin to repair the copings on the bridge and install posts and railings.

Once TSK completes this year's work, the bridge will face one final fifth phase, during which workers will repair the surfaces. There will be no traffic restrictions on the bridge during these works.

The opposition party ANO will demand an explanation for the price increase, which will be addressed at the city hall transportation committee meeting, and if the answers from deputy mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) are not satisfactory, they intend to address the matter at the next city council meeting. "I am preparing a number of detailed questions regarding the current state of the project and the reasons for this increase (in price)," stated opposition councilor and chairman of the Prague ANO Ondřej Prokop.