Builders have started repairing Patton's Bridge in Pilsen

Plzeň - In Plzeň, traffic restrictions will begin on Monday morning on the General Patton Bridge, the most important and longest bridge in Plzeň. The reconstruction of the bridge, which sees over 50,000 cars daily, will last until the end of 2018. It involves two bridges side by side. Construction workers will start heading towards Lochotín. During the entire repair, two narrowed lanes in both directions will always remain operational for cars, said construction manager Tomáš Vodička from Colas CZ today.

Tram services will be suspended today at 7:00 PM. The transport companies will install switches there. Buses will operate until midnight, and trams will travel shuttling over the adjacent bridge from Lochotín to the city center until 4:00 AM. The operation over one track will be managed by traffic signals. Automobile traffic will be restricted from the early morning hours; construction workers will mark two narrowed lanes towards Lochotín with yellow lines starting this evening. "There will always be two traffic lanes open, but they will be narrowed," said Vodička.

"If drivers proceed smoothly, then traffic jams will not form. I urge them to focus on driving and utilize the capacity of the temporary road," stated Zdeněk Kuťák from the Directorate of Roads and Highways.

According to Mayor Martin Zrzavecký (ČSSD), traffic restrictions may lead to congestion. "On the other hand, we are somewhat reassured by the situation we experienced on Rokycanská (where the same contractor Colas CZ completely repaired both bridges in 2015 and 2016) and thanks to traffic measures and the discipline of drivers, there were no traffic jams there," he said.

Right on Monday at 7:00 AM, workers will begin to dismantle the tramway track for ten days and will cover the area where the tracks were with temporary asphalt. "After that, cars will be moved there, and we can close half of the bridge (the one towards Lochotín)," said Vodička. From the middle of the bridge, two lanes for cars will be created, and construction workers will have the entire wide sidewalk and part of the current roadway available. Between April 20 and 22, the cutting of the coping will begin.

"At the beginning of the reconstruction, there will mainly be machines there," noted Vodička. Once that is demolished, manual work will commence. The coping will require the most work. At that time, there will be up to 50 workers on the bridge.

According to Vodička, it is a complex construction project. "And it will also be done with traffic ongoing. Cars will still be driving just a meter away from the machines and workers," he stated. This year, Colas CZ will repair the complete bridge deck including the tramway tracks. Next year, starting in March, the second bridge to the city center will be worked on. By the end of 2018, a narrowed sidewalk will be created there, providing three lanes instead of two.

The General Patton Bridge, built in 1971, is located on a heavily overloaded main connector between the largest residential areas of Lochotín and Vinice and the city center, measuring 227 meters. The repair is expected to be completed in December 2018. The bridge also carries routes for two international roads to Karlovy Vary and Most. The two-year reconstruction will cost 167 million CZK including VAT.