If the Libeň Bridge is a monument, traffic will return in eight years

Prague - In the event that the Ministry of Culture declares the Libeň Bridge in Prague a monument, it will be restored and reopened no sooner than in eight years. If it is not declared a monument, traffic could return to it in less than three years. This was stated today by Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD) to journalists. The bridge was closed to public transport and private vehicles on Friday due to its emergency condition. Prague is currently addressing replacement bus transport. The bridge, built in 1928, has never been repaired.

Once declared a monument, the city will have to start all work from scratch. This means that it would have to instruct designers to create a repair project proposal, followed by the commencement of zoning proceedings and obtaining a zoning decision. This would be followed by the process of obtaining a building permit. "In this case, the Ministry would protect more of a replica of the bridge than the bridge itself, at least according to the extent of what needs to be repaired," said Dolínek.

If the ministry does not declare it a monument, Dolínek will seek to revoke the resolution of the city council from 2016, which decided that it would not be demolished but repaired. Subsequently, the city would still this year continue with the previously announced and then interrupted competition for the construction of the bridge. By the end of the year, Prague could, according to Dolínek, select a contractor and hand over the construction site to them. The bridge would be completed, and in this case, traffic could return around the turn of 2020 and 2021.

Prague is now considering introducing two replacement bus lines, one each in Libeň and Holešovice. These would approach the bridge as far as possible. People would not have to walk the entire route from Palmovka to Dělnická. Dolínek did not specify when this could be implemented. The city is currently awaiting a report from the Klokner Institute with recommendations on how to proceed. Supporting the structure would last three weeks from the start date.

The schedule for the reconstruction preparations was approved by the city council in 2004 according to documents from the Technical Road Administration (TSK). In 2009, a series of building permits for the reconstruction of the Libeň Bridge complex were issued. However, work stopped for another four years. In 2014, the city council approved the awarding of a public contract for the reconstruction. In this process, the bridge was to be replaced by a new, wider one. This was halted by the aforementioned decision from 2016.

Since its commissioning in 1928, the load-bearing structure of the bridge has never been repaired. The authors of the Libeň Bridge are architect Pavel Janák and designer František Mencl.