In Stádlec, a unique chain bridge reopened today after repairs

Stádlec (Táborsko) - Today, after reconstruction, a unique chain bridge was ceremoniously opened in Stádlec in the Táborsko region, which is a national cultural monument. The repair of the last Empire-style bridge in Europe, which connected the banks of the Vltava River in Podolsko before the construction of the Orlík Reservoir, cost the region 3.5 million crowns.
    "The bridge has no great significance for transport in the South Bohemia region, but it is a national monument," said South Bohemian Governor Jan Zahradník to ČTK. He reminded that there are only three bridges in Bohemia that are national cultural monuments - besides the Stádlec bridge, there is also the Charles Bridge in Prague and the stone bridge in Písek.
    "The bridge as a technical monument will be a reminder for our young people and all our visitors of how technically skilled our ancestors were in the mid-19th century," added the governor. In the 90-meter-long structure, spruce decking has now been replaced with oak, and next year the South Bohemia Road Administration plans to have the stone elements grouted and the anchorage blocks repaired.
    "We came to take a look both because we live in Stádlec and participated in the first opening in 1975; we come here quite often, and I like that it is being maintained," said Miloslav Jírovec from Stádlec.
    The suspension chain bridge, built by the České Budějovice company of Josef Lanna between 1847 and 1848, originally connected the banks of the Vltava River in Podolsko on the road from Tábor to Písek. However, in the early 1960s, it had to give way to the Orlík Reservoir, and after its dismantling, a new location began to be sought for it. Of the 13 identified options, the landscape relief near the village of Stádlec on the Lužnice River ultimately won, where the terrain is similar to that of Orlík. The challenging assembly of the bridge, whose riverbank pylons consist of about 2,000 granite blocks and roughly the same number of steel parts that form the chain structure, was completed in 1975.