The shocking collapse last December of a pedestrian bridge in Prague 7 has apparently scared the city’s leadership so badly that they’re actually doing something about it. But for people living or working on either side of the busy Liben bridge that connects Prague’s 7th and 8th district, the sudden concern over bridge safety will be a serious hassle. After a series of hastily organized inspections, the official status of the Liben bridge was suddenly downgraded from ‘Bad’ to ‘Catastrophic’, triggering its closure for repairs. “Safety is the priority and it can’t be guaranteed at the present time,” said Prague deputy mayor Petr Dolinek.
The bridge has been targeted for reconstruction for several years, however the city is currently planning to make temporary repairs to the section (not over the river itself) that is currently deemed unsafe. How long this will take is unclear, as it will take several weeks simply to tender the job. The severity of the bridge’s problems are hardly a surprise. Trams haven’t been allowed to travel faster than 30 km/hr for three years already.
