Malšovice Bridge

As part of the proposed new regulation of the Orlice river bed from the steel Malšovice bridge (built in 1889) to Svinary scheduled for the late 1920s, the original bridge was first replaced with a reinforced concrete one. The regulation was coordinated and designed by František Berger, the operating engineer of the city power station. The preparation and design work continued until 1931, when a regulating resolution of the Provincial Committee of the Czech Lands was adopted on 22 April 1931: “New shores will be strengthened by riprap, pavement and sodding. The regulated channel will meander at appropriate arcs according to the circumstances.”
 

The new monumental bridge was designed by architect Karel Herzán, who studied at a realschule in Hradec Králové and later settled in Prague where he became a lecturer at the Czech Technical University. He pioneered reinforced concrete bridge structures. For the bridge span length of 43.2m and its total length of 59m, he used two monumental arcs and the bridge deck 7.8m wide between them. The architectural form, including the wrought-iron railings alternating with diagonal bars and the conical lighting columns with lamps on both the shores, was designed by Josef Gočár, who was experiencing the most prolific period of his tenure in Hradec Králové at that time. The bridge is an example of harmony of the architect and the structural engineer who both liked reinforced concrete. Gočár demonstrated his preference in his design of the staircase at the Church of the Assumption in 1909, in the design of the water tower in Bohdaneč Spa in 1909–1911, and the design of the reinforced concrete skeleton of the House of the Black Madonna in Prague a year later.
 

In 1993, the bridge was completely reconstructed.

 

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