In Prague, the “Bridge of Intelligence,” also known as the Branický Bridge, commenced its notable reconstruction this week. The Railway Administration undertook a crucial repair and the construction of a second track, which had never been there despite being in the original plans. These two tracks are essential for the capacity expansion of the Prague railway node.
Since last summer, new track construction has been in progress on one side, while currently, builders are starting to remove the original track on the other. As a result, traffic on the bridge is wholly halted for half a year. The contractor plans to run trains on the new track in July, and two-way traffic on the Bridge of Intelligence will be possible starting in October this year.
The construction company began the first works on the bridge, built in 1955, last summer. “Thanks to the relatively good condition of the original structure, we can preserve the original arches. We carry out renovations and maintenance work on them,” explained Tomáš Wangler, Specialist for Bridges at Metrostav TBR. He added, “We must also set up a new bridge deck and a bathtub for slab bearings. The original was too narrow regarding today’s requirements, so we had to demolish it laboriously.”
The cost of the work is 2.1 billion CZK. The second track is related to the approximately 950-meter-long bridge and the connecting track in a total length of eight kilometers. “We are laying a second track from the Chuchle tunnel to the junction towards Vršovice and Zahradní Město,” explained Jana Dehner from the Railway Administration.
The Branický Bridge was built in the 1950s and put into operation in 1964. It is popularly called the “Bridge of Intelligence” because several educated people forced by the communist regime to take up workers’ and auxiliary professions worked on its construction.