Palacky Bridge - Prague, Czech Republic - Picture Perfect Postcards on Waymarking.com

It is the third oldest stone bridge in Prague (Charles Bridge and the viaduct Negrelli) and like the bridge downstream over the Vltava river, it was built for the same reason as already mentioned Jiráskuv bridge. This reason was rapidly growing Smíchov area on the opposite bank of the river and the necessity of a connection with the thPrague 2 - Palacky Bridgeen densely populated city center. But construction did not prevent an economic depression and building was stalled. Eventually on May 13, 1876 workers laid the first foundation stone. A German construction company took over but the Klein brothers, Schmoll, and Gartner projects were built by the Czech engineers Josef Reitnera and Frederick Münzberger (a name we have already dealt in the paragraph devoted to building CVUT Karlovo namesti).

The construction of the bridge is also one subject of technical interest – for the first time here in Prague, the caisson method was used for establishing the pillars of the bridge. The Caisson system works on the principle of equal pressure in the caisson and water and is the same technique used for the Brooklyn Bridge. With this feature it is possible to move the caisson without a special suit, and the excavation work is carried out faster. A weighted box drops into the pit and after reaching the required depth or bedrock is filled with concrete and used as the foundation of emerging pillars of the building.

The stone bridge with seven arches measures to 228.8 mA was put into operation the 22nd of December, 1878. After commissioning the bridge, the street and track cars were placed around it and race on one side in one direction. The road was wide: sidewalks 7.7 mA 1.5 m. Although the Palacky Bridge in Prague at that time was the widest bridge, from the outset, it appeared that this width would not be sufficient, and immediately they planned an additional unilateral expansion up-river as evidenced by the location of the statue of Palacky in the axis of the proposed extension. All these plans were compromised with the advent of war.


The Šitkovská Water-tower (small embedded image)
The fate of the previous water towers that were standing here cannot be described briefly. We can only state that the occasional destruction of a tower was caused by fires and floods.

The current water-tower was built in 1588-1591. The construction works were led by Karel Melnický, a townsman from Prague’s New Town. The tower and the water-station, which was situated on the north side of the tower, were built with the help of a wooden crane. Beside the crane the carpenters also constructed eight water wheels to drive the machinery. Documents mention that in 1601 this water-station supplied 3/4 of New Town with water. The water-station was named after the miller, Jan Šítka, who owned the nearby mill.

Physical Address: Palacky Bridge Prague, Czech Republic Related Web Site: [Web Link] Description of Postcard Location: Palacky Bridge a The Šitkovská Water-tower Parking Coordinates: Not Listed

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