Karlin Viaduct is on of the main attractions of the Czech capital, Prague. The city on Vltava River is one of the most agreeable tourism destinations in the world and its main interest points also include a railway construction. And not just any railway construction, but the largest viaduct in the Czech Republic and one of the largest ever built in Europe in the 19th century. Karlin Bridge is the work of a famous engineer, Alois Negrelli, the designer of the Suez Canal.The bridge is located in a small town next to Prague, Karlin, which is currently part of the capital’s metropolitan area and is administratively subordinated to the 8th sector of the municipality.
The construction of the viaduct was initiated in 1846 and finalized in 1850, a record interval even for present times. The construction was carried out by Bratri Kleinove and Vojtech Lanna companies and was launched in high celebration on June 1, 1850, the Austrian authorities who used to administrate the Czech Republic at that time showing off with the bridge as a proof of the technological progress that the Austrian authority brought in the countries that formed the Habsburg Empire, given the revolutionary year 1848 which also saw the Czech taking up arms.
Karlin Bridge connects the main arteries of the Czech network in Bubny station as it is located on the line which links Prague and Dresda. The viaduct is 1,111 metre long, initially 1,130, and was the biggest European construction of those times. Karlin-Negrelli remained to these days the longest bridge in the Czech Republic. The viaduct made of granite has 90 arches and withstood many uncontrolled overflows of Vltava, being rehabilitated from the ground up as late as 1981 and enduring railway traffic for over 130 years without man intervention. The constructor of the bridge was Ritter von Moldelbe, his real name was Alois Negrelli, an Italian engineer famous for having designed the Suez Canal, the Munster Bridge or for having developed, together with Ferdinand Stadler, the first railway line in Switzerland, Zurich-Baden.
After his death in 1858 and in honour of his contribution to the bridge, Karlin Viaduct was named von Moldelbe Bridge. After 1918 when Czechoslovakia became independent, the name of the bridge was changed to Negrelli Bridge.
Today the bridge is mentioned in all tourism brochures of Prague as one of the 14 bridges across Vltava River, together with the already famous Carol and Legion Bridges. The bridge has special walkways for tourists to take photographs of the viaduct and Vltava River that this viaduct crosses together with the river that bears the name of the Karlin city.
This year is a special one for this viaduct, the construction celebrating the impressing age of 160 years which is also proof of the bridge’s stubbornness of not giving up its record.
de Alin Lupulescu
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