Správa železnic has selected the future form of the bridge at Prague Výtoň

The competition for the future design of the bridge was announced on 3rd May last year. Správa železnic also chose the form of a competitive dialogue on the basis of a consultation with the Czech Chamber of Architects, because the classical anonymous architectural competition was evaluated as risky in terms of possible questioning of the results. Even before the decision to launch the competition, three possible solutions had become publicly known, so the anonymity of the contestants would not have been respected if their authors had participated. At the same time, Správa železnic wanted to allow them to demonstrate the advantages of their designs in the competition. Therefore, they were invited to participate directly in the competitive dialogue, while anyone else could participate, provided they met the established criteria for participation.

Aim of the competitive dialogue was to find a solution for the triple-track bridge over the Vltava River in place of the existing railway bridges. “The requirement for the extension to three tracks in this line section results from the updated feasibility study addressing the connection of the 3rd transit corridor to the Prague railway junction, which was approved by the Ministry of Transport. It assumes a prospective traffic volume for which the current double-track bridge is not sufficient. The condition was to respect the requirements of monument protection to the greatest extent possible,” says the Director General of Správa železnic Jiří Svoboda.  

“Few railway bridges in the world have such a unique location and value as the one at Výtoň. I appreciate the selection of the solution through the architectural competition and thanks to that also obtaining a quality result, which will connect the banks not only for capacity rail transport, but will also improve comfort for pedestrians and cyclists. Another advantage of the new solution is the creation of a new stop Praha-Výtoň, which will allow easy transfer to tram lines. I was also very pleased to see that the winning design opens the way for the use of the existing bridge structure in a different location and I hope that Správa železnic will start preparing this move as well,” states the Deputy Mayor for the Transport of the Capital City of Prague Adam Scheinherr.

The evaluation committee consisted of 11 members. In addition to representatives of Správa železnic and the Municipality of the Capital City of Prague, it also included independent experts on bridges who also work as teachers at the Czech Technical University, members of the For Old Prague Club and architects. In addition, the evaluation committee cooperated with other experts, for example, from the National Heritage Institute and the municipal districts of Prague 2 and Prague 5. The proposed solution had to respect the current technical requirements with some exceptions, which were set so that the competition proposals could include the preservation of the existing steel structure. This solution was not excluded in the specification and some of the competition proposals envisaged its use.

From the point of view of the citywide significance, the function of the bridge for pedestrian and cycling connection of both banks of the Vltava River was emphasised in the assignment, which the bridge also fulfils at present. However, the emphasis was also placed on linking the pedestrian cycle routes to their continuation.

At the same time, the requirements for the creation of a new railway stop at Výtoň, which will serve as a transfer node between various modes of public transport, especially between train and tram, should have been respected.

After the concepts were submitted and evaluated by the evaluation committee at the beginning of this year, in accordance with the competition conditions, it was decided to reduce the number of solutions and six participants advanced to the next stage of the competition. They then presented their revised concepts to the evaluation committee, taking into account its recommendations on the original proposals. They then submitted their final solutions in the form of an offer at the beginning of September. A contract will be concluded with the winner of the competitive dialogue for the preparation of a more detailed study, which will serve as a basis for the preparation of documentation for joint building permit.

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