Nymburk will request a grant from the region for the project of constructing a new footbridge

Nymburk - Nymburk will request a grant from the Central Bohemian Region for the preparation of project documentation for the construction of a new footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists across the Elbe River. Nymburk wants to build a new bridge in place of the one that was closed in December for safety reasons. This was stated by Deputy Mayor Jan Ritter (Nymburk Democrats) at today's council meeting. The Nymburk footbridge has the same design and was created by the same designer as the collapsed bridge in Prague-Troja.


Nymburk intends to ask the region for four million crowns. The city leadership expects that the regional councilors might address the request at their meeting on April 26.

After the decision of the regional councilors, Nymburk wants to evaluate the finances needed for the project and the construction of the new footbridge. Then, it will commission the project to be prepared so that construction can begin as soon as possible. According to Mayor Pavel Fojtík (Change for Nymburk), the new footbridge could be completed within two to three years.

The city decided to close the footbridge based on a recommendation from the specialized company Pontex, which examined the Nymburk footbridge more than a year and a half ago. The company informed Nymburk that according to preliminary information from investigators, the Troja footbridge likely has a systemic design flaw, where the post-tensioning cables are corroding.

People now have to use the railway bridge or the hydroelectric power plant to cross the Elbe instead of the closed footbridge, which means a journey of more than a kilometer. Adjacent to the closed footbridge is a road bridge, which cannot allow pedestrian passage due to safety reasons. Since January 15, the city has also introduced free bus transport between Přemyslovců Square and Zálabí, which is on the other side of the river. People can travel for free by bus between the stops Nymburk, Zálabí PVT, and Nymburk Square. Throughout the day, 45 buses run in each direction, thus affecting a total of 90 connections with free transport.

Deputy Mayor Ritter has already personally inspected the remains of the collapsed Troja footbridge. According to him, it is evident that both the load-bearing and post-tensioning cables were attacked by corrosion to varying degrees and in a completely irregular manner. This was not just about the weakening of the reinforcement at the joints between individual components, but also elsewhere, for example, in the middle of one component. He suggests that it would be necessary to check the cables along the entire length of the footbridge in Nymburk so that it could be declared safe if needed.

The city wants to build a new footbridge that is wider. Cyclists, who are currently prohibited from using the existing footbridge, would be able to access it. There is also the possibility of repairing the current footbridge; however, the city leadership considers its demolition and the construction of a completely new footbridge to be more likely.