The repair of the Charles Bridge is completed, inspection by the end of October

Prague - The repair of Prague's Charles Bridge is completed, only minor works remain to be finished. The company Mott MacDonald, which worked on the reconstruction commissioned by the Prague city hall, expects that the bridge will be certified by the end of October. Daut Kara, a representative of the company, told ČTK. In the future, the shell of the bridge will also be repaired.
    At this moment, according to Kara, several streetlights need to be finished and "minor touches" are being completed, for example, stones are being ground down or parts of the facade of a building in Mala Strana are being repainted. "The whole bridge is being walked through and spruced up," noted Kara. A part of the bridge is still occupied by a fence in places where new paving has been laid down. According to Kara, the company had to re-pave the cobblestones there, and now they are waiting for them to "settle." The fence should disappear by the end of the month. Kara expects that by then the company will also hand over the construction to the city hall.
    The approaching end of the second phase of repairs to Charles Bridge was confirmed by city hall spokesman Jiří Wolf. Prague is said to expect that everything should be completed by mid-November.
    After this phase of repairs, another stage is expected to follow, during which the shell of the bridge will be reconstructed. When Prague will start these repairs is not yet clear. However, they are estimated to last at least ten years. Work will already be done from pontoons, so pedestrians will no longer be restricted on the bridge.
    The repair of one of the most famous Czech medieval landmarks began in August 2007. In three years, the bridge deck was reconstructed, the bridge received new waterproofing, and the railing was repaired. However, the work with a budget of over 200 million faced harsh criticism, and criminal complaints were filed.
    The method of repair was opposed, for example, by the heritage inspection of the Ministry of Culture. According to them, more stone blocks were replaced than recommended by the survey. The inspectors were also dissatisfied with the way the stones in the bridge's railing were processed. The National Heritage Institute also found faults in the repair of Charles Bridge. Prague has always claimed that there were no major mistakes and only admitted to minor infractions.
    Charles Bridge is the second oldest preserved stone bridge in the Czech Republic. It replaced Judith Bridge, which was destroyed by the spring thaw in 1342. The construction was initiated by Emperor Charles IV in 1357 and was completed in the early 15th century. Its length is 520 meters. Until 1879, it was called the Stone Bridge.