Last year, a new Troja footbridge over the Vltava was put into operation.

Prague – A year ago, on October 23, a new Troja footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists was opened over the Vltava River. The previous Troja footbridge, which connected Císařský island with Troja since July 1984, collapsed on December 2, 2017, injuring four people, two of them seriously. Regarding the cause of the collapse, corrosion of the supporting cables hidden within the structure was most often mentioned. The lifespan of the new footbridge was declared to be at least 100 years upon opening.

Construction of the new footbridge began in November 2019. In April last year, builders completed the foundation of the footbridge and all five pillars, and they began installing the deck at the beginning of June 2020. In August, they installed the supporting steel structures and started assembling the wooden parts of the deck and railings. The footbridge, costing 150 million crowns, is wider and higher than the collapsed one. It is 256 meters long and four meters wide, allowing for walking, skating, or cycling. In case of necessity, an ambulance can also pass over it.

The old footbridge was built using a so-called pre-stressed construction, where cables are for instance embedded in concrete. The new footbridge has an arch continuous beam made of steel profile with a pipe diameter of 913 millimeters. During floods, whirlpools will not be created at its pillars. It also features foldable railings, allowing water to flow over better if necessary.

The collapse of the footbridge was addressed not only by the city, which compensated the injured with 50,000 crowns alongside the construction of a replacement (another compensation in an undisclosed amount was paid by the insurance company), but also by the police. Last March, they charged the footbridge's designer Jiří Stráský and the manager, former head of the bridge department of the Technical Road Administration (TSK) Antonín Semecký, with general endangerment through negligence. The indictment was filed in February 2020, and the court began dealing with the case in mid-September last year. Both defendants deny the charges.

The collapsed footbridge was opened on July 7, 1984, at a location where a ferry once operated (replaced by a pontoon bridge in winter) and in the mid-1970s a military temporary bridge for pedestrians. In the summer of 1977, that bridge was severely damaged by a boat that was torn loose during flooding, and a ban on entry was in effect, which locals largely ignored. The footbridge in this state can be seen in one of the episodes of the series 30 Cases of Major Zeman (Hostage in Bella Vista). In July 1981, the damaged bridge was swept away by another flood.