The repair of the protected wooden footbridge in Prudká in Doubravník is coming to an end

Doubravník – By the end of this year, the repair of the footbridge in Prudká, part of Doubravník in the Brno region, which has lasted for more than a year, will be completed. The complicated repair, during which a part of the original structures was replaced with exact copies, will cost five million crowns, said Doubravník mayor Barbora Šenkyříková (KDU-ČSL) to ČTK.

The wooden footbridge over the Svratka River was built in 1899 and has been a protected monument since 1994. Until 2017 it was in private hands, after which it was successfully acquired by the town of Doubravník, and its leadership began preparing for the repair.

"The footbridge had been in a state of disrepair for many years. Given that it was a cultural monument, it was necessary to retain the original material of the footbridge to the greatest extent possible. Despite this effort, where the condition of the wooden elements was assessed in centimeter increments, it was necessary to replace some of the wooden elements with new materials. However, the vast majority of the elements contain at least part of the original, historical wood," the mayor added.

The footbridge is made of fir, oak, spruce, and larch wood. Finding suitable trees to be used for the repair was challenging. The builders needed to produce beams that were 17 meters long, and the trees also had to have a diameter of about 60 centimeters. However, several such trees were found in the forests around Doubravník. The beams were then hand-shaped.

"The restoration of the footbridge is now in the final stages. In recent weeks, larch shingles were installed as the roofing, and the structural and top layer of the floor was completed. The installation of rain protection for the bridge structure is currently ongoing. Work on the ramps and landscaping will follow," Šenkyříková stated.

The town of Doubravník contributed two million crowns to the repair of the footbridge, the South Moravian Region contributed the same amount. The Ministry of Culture contributed 1.1 million crowns towards the repair.