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September 8th, 2008

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Charles Bridge repairs criticized

The 200 million Kč project continues stone by stone

By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 23rd, 2008 issue

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post

Ondřej Šefců of the National Heritage Institute supervises reconstruction work on Charles Bridge, expected to be completed by June 2010.

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post

Repairs to the stone railing

MICHAEL HEITMANN/The Prague Post

Repairs to the cobbled pavement

Preservationists spent 10 years debating how to approach the much-needed reconstruction of one of Prague’s most iconic tourist attractions, Charles Bridge. “We talked about it for so long that the bridge almost fell apart,” said Ondřej Šefců, director of the National Heritage Institute’s department in charge of the bridge.

The reconstruction’s first phase, during which the side rails and road surface will be repaired, finally started last year, but the controversy continued. Former Prague 1 Councilor Vladimír Hruška, for example, complained to the Culture Ministry that workers are using jackhammers and throwing stones away instead of returning them to their original positions. Instead of helping the bridge, the reconstruction is causing permanent damage, Hruška wrote in his complaint.

One worker on the site said there have been more problems with local residents. “We even had an old lady call the police because she thought we were destroying the bridge with illegal chemicals,” he said. “Firemen started jumping over the fence as if the place was on fire. But, when they realized it was just normal construction work, they were angry at being called needlessly.”

During the last reconstruction in the 1970s, workers used concrete to hold the sandstone blocks in place. However, the concrete locked humidity in the stones, which, together with the salt that has been used on the bridge during winters, wreaked havoc on many of the priceless stones. “It is as if you wrapped yourself up in a plastic sheet,” Šefců explained. “Soon you’d be all sweaty because the moisture could not leave your body and eventually you might even die of overheating.” Many stones have turned into sand and need to be replaced, as it would be dangerous to leave them in the bridge.

No heavy machinery is used, but workers say they use small electrical drills and saws. “Our predecessors tried to do the best job they could and used the hardest concrete possible,” Šefců said. “Even though they were misguided, they managed to do a good job, and it is very hard to break the concrete manually. In some places, it is practically impossible. Using wooden tools, as some would like us to, is completely out of the question.”

Pneumatic drills are used on the road surface, which is covered in reinforced concrete and needs to be dismantled if the span is to be properly insulated against water.

A rock and a hard place

Once a stone is freed from the concrete, the work is extremely meticulous. Each stone is carefully labeled so that it can be returned later to its position. The stones are thoroughly examined to determine whether they can be returned to their original place, or if part of them can be salvaged and used somewhere else. Only the most damaged stones are taken away and even these have a chance to serve the future generations. “There is a plan to sell some of the fragments as souvenirs,” Šefců said.

Only stones that have completely fallen apart are destroyed. It is expected that some 600 out of the 1,000 stones from the railing will have to be replaced.

Šefců says the practice of replacing damaged stones is as old as the bridge itself. “We are not doing anything that hasn’t been done before. In fact, only a third of the bridge is completely original. Another third comes from repairs done in the 18th and 19th centuries and the last third is from the 20th century,” he said. When three arches of the bridge collapsed during a severe flood in 1890 they were built from scratch, and even original artwork that was lost in the flood was replaced.

“I’m glad people are taking so much interest in their cultural heritage and want to make sure the bridge is repaired correctly; on the other hand, those who are critical don’t understand the nature of the reconstruction,” Šefců concluded.

Hruška’s complaints have not gone unnoticed by relevant authorities. The Culture Ministry has sent its own team of experts to inspect the reconstruction.

“We have found no signs of any wrongdoing so far, but we will keep an eye on the site for the duration of the reconstruction just in case,” said ministry spokesman Jan Cieslar.

The first phase of the reconstruction is set to continue until 2010 and is expected to cost some 200 million Kč. The second stage will entail repairing the pillars that support the span, the bridge vaults and the “coat,” or surface, of the bridge. This work should take five to 10 years, and is expected to happen in additional phases. No budget has been determined yet for the second phase, but, according to Šefců, the work will be much more demanding.

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at news@praguepost.com

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