The banks of the Opava River in Krnov will be connected by three new footbridges and one small bridge

Krnov - The banks of the Opava River in Krnov will be connected by three new footbridges and one footbridge. They will be primarily intended for cyclists and pedestrians. Their construction is part of the project "River in the City," which aims to enhance a roughly three-kilometer stretch of the river in the city center. The city's spokesperson, Dita Círová, said this today.

"We already know the design of the footbridges that will span the Opava River near the Mír cinema and also close to Tyršova Street. They were proposed jointly by architects from WMA architects and Mika Svoboda architects. The urban-architectural study also includes the design of a footbridge over the restored mill channel and a small bridge near Na Ostrově Street," the spokesperson stated.

According to the spokesperson, the inspiration for the footbridges that will connect the riverbanks at the cultural center and the residential area in Tyršova Street was the river and the historical context of the city and the district, where the river creates meanders. The footbridges resemble two ribbons thrown over the river. They are designed from exposed white concrete, supplemented by stainless steel railings with rod fill, and will have night lighting installed in the handrail.

The study also plans to expose the mill channel in Tyršova Street, which is currently piped. The channel will be spanned by a white concrete footbridge with rod railings, which will have the character of a simple slab placed on concrete blocks as a foundation. "The last footbridge is designed near the railway bridge at Na Ostrově Street, where it crosses the mill channel by the gardeners' colony. The structure of the small bridge consists of a truss made of poplar and larch wood," Círová explained.

The footbridges are one of the elements of the "River in the City" project, which aims to utilize the social and recreational potential of the river and integrate it into the structure and organism of the city. According to an agreement with the Odra River Basin Authority, several elements proposed in this project will become part of the modifications of the Opava River in Krnov in connection with the implementation of flood protection measures, which, in addition to the construction of the Nové Heřminovy dam, also include flood protection with river embankments in the Krnov-city section.

According to Círová, the city currently has only rough estimates of the costs, with a more detailed specification expected from the project documentation. "Nevertheless, it is clear that this will be an investment project on the scale of hundreds of millions of crowns, with the majority being financed by the Odra River Basin Authority and a smaller portion by the city of Krnov," said Mayor Tomáš Hradil (Krnovští Patrioti) earlier.