<p>Architect excluded from the tender for the footbridge in H. Králové again the winner</p>

1st prize - Libor Kábrt, Gabriela Elichová, Martin Elich, Jiří Jachan

Hradec Králové - The team of architect Libor Kábrt, who was disqualified from the architectural competition for the design of a footbridge over the Elbe in Hradec Králové in May, is once again the winner of the competition. The architect successfully appealed against the disqualification to the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), and the city council on Tuesday annulled its decision to exclude him and confirmed the original results of the tender from this April. CTK was informed today by the spokesperson of the magistrate, Magdaléna Vlčková. The city has been pursuing the construction of the footbridge for over ten years. If everything goes smoothly, construction could begin in 2016.
    The city council disqualified Kábrt's winning team from the competition due to suspicion that the expert member of the jury, Lukáš Vráblík, had collaborated with Kábrt. Structural engineer Vráblík had previously participated in plans for a similar work by Kábrt for the competition for a footbridge in Jaroměř. The antimonopoly office stated in its decision that the cooperation was a one-time event that had already ended. According to the ÚOHS, the city exceeded the requirements of the competition conditions.
    The footbridge over the Elbe is to be built near the Aldis Congress Center. It should feature a cable structure with steel ribs, complemented by a pedestrian surface made of reinforced concrete. The footbridge, positioned on three supporting pillars, is expected to be approximately 100 meters long and should cost around 34 million crowns.
    The city should commission the winning architect to prepare the project documentation. “We estimate that the design process would take at least a year. Then there would be a selection of the contractor for the construction, which should also take about a year,” said Deputy Mayor Jindřich Vedlich earlier. The city selected from 32 proposals in the competition.
    The footbridge is intended to connect the Šimkovy Sady area and the Aldis congress center with Karla IV. Avenue in the city center. The town hall already built a pedestrian boulevard in the Aldis area in 2003 for nearly 23 million crowns. The footbridge was supposed to extend from it. According to the original project, however, it was necessary to cut down an oak tree on the Elbe embankment, against which nature conservationists successfully protested.