Repairs finished on Nusle Bridge

The Nusle Bridge (Nuselský most) is fully accessible again after six years of renovation work. Only minor adjustments still need to be made. These should be done by Dec. 15 and will not affect traffic on the bridge.

The six-lane pre-stressed concrete bridge carries vehicle traffic on top and has a tunnel for subway trains on the metro C line, between the IP Pavlova and Vyšehrad stations.

The half-kilometer long bridge is part of the heavily used Magistral highway that bisects the city.

The bridge had a problem with water flowing into the load-bearing structure and also into the metro tunnel. The concrete had degraded and the metal reinforcement rusted.

Workers from the Technical Communications Authority (TSK) rehabilitated the concrete casing and added a waterproofing layer to the road.

The repairs that began in 2011 were spread over four stages. The most demanding was the repair of the concrete surface of the supporting structure on the sides and at the bottom of the bridge.

To mark the end of the repairs of the bridge, an exhibition about the 45-year history of the structure started at the Police Museum (Muzeum policie ČR) in Karlov, right next to the bridge entrance on the IP Pavlova side.

The Nusle Bridge spans the Nusle Valley and connects the Pankrác district to Karlov, New Town, and the city center. Construction began in 1967 and the bridge opened Feb. 22, 1973.

The bridge is sometimes called the suicide bridge due to the number of suicides and attempted suicides since its completion. The city erected a tall chain link fence railings along the sidewalks in 1997 to stop suicides. In 2007, the fencing was topped off with a meter-wide piece of curved metal to make it more difficult to climb the fence

In 2011, artist Krištof Kintera erected a memorial to those who died, it consists of a streetlamp with its light facing upward. It is located directly under the bridge.