Tender Issued for Footbridge Linking Holešovice and Karlín

The construction of a footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists, which will connect Holešovice and Karlín across the island of Štvanice, will begin next year.

The Prague City Council has today announced a public contract for the construction of the HolKa footbridge connecting Holešovice and Karlín.

“It will be built by the end of next year”, said Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Praha Sobě). “The construction costs should be a maximum of CZK 197 million. The footbridge will make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to travel to Štvanice island and at the same time will be another connection between Holešovice and Karlín”.

The deck is designed to separate the cyclist traffic from the pedestrians by a subtle difference in height. This provides a safety feature for both cyclists and pedestrians while allowing cyclists to confidently ride without the fear of a collision.

Designed by Marek Blanek and Petr Teje architects, the bridge pushes building technology to the limit; the use of freeze-resistant and fiber-reinforced ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) helped reduce the structural shell thickness.

At the moment, Karlín and Holešovice are connected by a ferry, which should stop running after the footbridge is completed.

The idea of building a footbridge in this area was a part of the Prague Land-Use Plan for a long time. In 1999 an architectural competition was held to define the appearance of the footbridge.

However, after the floods in 2002, the flood protection measures were reinforced and the design was no longer actual.

This change of technical and legislative requirements had made a request for of a new competition. The situation on both of the riverbanks and the Štvanice Island had deteriorated because of the missing connection.

Author: Marek Blank for IPR Praha