Charles Bridge is getting a face-lift / Karluv most si zasluhuje plastiku

The last time Charles Bridge got its face-lift was about 50 years ago; now the time has come again. The constant pedestrian traffic, floods and too much usage of salt to melt the snow during winter months have left quite the damage on the poor guy. The repair crew is determined to save as many original stones laid by Peter Parler as possible. Those that cannot be salvaged will be replaced by new sandstones which are almost identical to those used in the 14th century. How is that possible? After digging through the entire Czech Republic the historians/archaeologists found sandstone of the best quality in two places in the Czech republic: Kamena Zehrovice and Brezin.

How will the construction affect tourism? During the first construction phase one side of the bridge is going to be cordoned off. The second phase will be more time consuming (it will last up to 10 years) as well as more demanding, however, the bridge should still stay open. The first phase is going to cost the city about 222 million crowns, which is just a pocket change compared to what the second phase will cost!

CZ: Naposledy byl Karluv most rekonstruovan priblizne pred 50ti lety a cas oprav je tu zase. Nepretrizita turisticka doprava, zaplavy a pouzivani soli na mrazeni snehu a ledu zanechali na chudaku mostu obrovske skody. Ale prazska historicka sluzba je odhodlana zachranit co nejvice originalnich kamenu, ktere byly vybrane samotnym Petrem Parlerem ve 14. stoleti. Kameny, ktere se nedaji zachranit budou vymeneny temer perfektnimi kopiemi. Jak ze by to bylo mozne? Po te co prazsti archeologove prokopali skoro celou Ceskou republiku, nasli se dve mestecka, jejichz zaklady stoji na kamenech rovnajicim se kamenum Karlova mostu: mestecko Kamena Zehrovice a Brezin.

A jak tato rekonstrukce ovlivni turismus? Behem prvni faze oprav se oddeli jedna strana mostu, zatimco druha strana bude pruchodna chodcum. Druha faze oprav bude ale mnohem delsi ( bude trvat az 10 let) a narocnejsi. Ale mesto slibilo, ze most bude stale turismu stale dostupny. Prvni faze bude stat Prahu kolem 222 milionu korun; to jsou ovsem pouhe halere oproti tomu, co ma stat druha faze oprav.

Source: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/94644