Hlavka Bridge Prague
Hlávek Bridge is the twelfth in Prague in the order of the Vltava River. It is the widest bridge in the Czech Republic and the first concrete bridge in Prague across the Vltava. The initial impulse for its construction was the construction of the Central Slaughterhouse in Holešovice in the years 1890-94. During the preparations for the construction of the Hlávek Bridge, two camps, represented by two generations of technicians, represented two different approaches to materials. The older generation preferred iron, while the younger preferred modern concrete. In the end, iron was chosen for one part and concrete for the other.
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Interesting facts Hlavka Bridge Prague
Hlávek Bridge was built on the site of the original wooden bridge, in two stages between 1909 and 1912 as an important road to the Central Slaughterhouse in Holešovice. The total width of the bridge with sidewalks is 16.8 m and its length is 297.4 m. It spans the banks of the Vltava and the island of Štvanice.
The part of the bridge from Těšnov to the mentioned island, which is shorter, was built according to the design of Ing. Jiří Soukup and steel was chosen as the material. Mečislav Petrů also took part in this part of the bridge as an architect. The longer part of the bridge, which partially spans the island of Štvanice and the river, is the work of Ing. František Mencl and architect Pavel Janák and is built of concrete. The resulting work consists of two structurally different parts, which are the result of a compromise between the proponents of the traditional steel structure and the adherents of more modern concrete. On February 3 and 6, 1912, a load test of the bridge took place.
The creators of the bridge paid great attention to its artistic decoration. Above the head of the island pillars there are a total of 2.65 m high reliefs, the authors of which were pupils of Josef Václav Myslbek. On the downstream side it was the sculptor Bohumil Kafka and on the opposite side Ladislav Kofránek. Medallions are hung in the corners of the main vault, depicting twelve portraits of the then town hall representatives who took part in the construction of the bridge. However, the dominant feature of the bridge consists of sculptures by sculptor Jan Štursa, bearing the names "Práce" and "Humanita", which can be found at the beginning of the Holešovice side of the bridge.
Between 1958 and 1962, the Hlávek Bridge was doubled to suit the planned route of the main road. During this occasion, the steel part of the bridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete structure.
The bridge is named after the Czech architect Josef Hlávek.
Author: Andrea Štyndlová