Charles Bridge was harmed by salt, water and thoughtless repair

The famous Charles Bridge, that is being reconstructed right now, is the typical example bridges doesn’t have to be always damaged solely by traffic. The state of one of the most important historic monuments have been gradually worsening, especially because of natural causes and bad repairs.

The last, communist, one took place at the turn of the 60’s and the 70’s, during which was installed a system of anchors, a steel concrete panel was laid longwise (not very wise) and pillars were supposed to be protected by layers of isolation. The hydroisolation, however, didn’t work out well for Charles Bridge, as the pillars became permanently wet and their state gradually worsened.

That is the reason, why a lot of the sandstone blocks have to be replaced. The other ones have to go because of winter salting. Salt got inside the bridge and damaged it a lot, also because the salty snow used to be only pushed to one side of the bridge, where it was let to melt and further damage the bridge. Nowadays, the snow is carried away from it.