Prague, Dec 3 (CTK) – The Prague City Hall will ponder a closure of a footbridge in the Radotin southern neighbourhood and it may close the central Hlavka Bridge to trams, Deputy Mayor Petr Dolinek told the media on Sunday, in the wake of a footbridge’s collapse that injured four people on Saturday.
Dolinek (Social Democrats, CSSD) rejected speculations about the city having underestimated or neglected the technical maintenance of bridges.
It invested a total of 1.25 billion crowns in bridges in 2014-2017, he pointed out.
Following the Saturday collapse of a footbridge crossing the Vltava River in northern Prague, Mayor Adriana Krnacova (ANO) demanded a thorough check of all footbridges and bridges in the city.
“We had been considering the closure of the Radotin footbridge (crossing the Berounka River, the Vltava’s tributary) for a long time now. A decision must be made quickly,” Dolinek, a councillor supervising the city’s road and bridges’ technical management, said.
He said the condition of another bridge, which crosses the Vltava in Prague-Liben, has been poor for a long time as well, but the city cannot solve the situation before the Culture Ministry decides on whether the Liben Bridge should have the status of a cultural monument.
Dolinek said he is going to urge the ministry to speed up its decision in this respect.
Another bridge in a poor condition is the Hlavka Bridge, which might be closed to trams in the months to come, Dolinek said.
The city also plans a repair of the southern Barrandov Bridge, he said.
