THE NEW BRIDGE IN THE BAŠKA MUNICIPALITY HAS BEEN COMPLETED

23. 08. 2011

On 23 August 2011, precisely fourteen months after the conclusion of the contract with the contractor OHL ŽS, a.s., a newly constructed bridge over the Ostravice River in the Baška municipality was ceremonially opened in the presence of the President of the Moravian Silesian Region, Jaroslav Palas. The Moravian Silesian Regional Authority thus handed the bridge over for utilization by the general public 100 days earlier than planned. OHL ŽS, a.s. managed to build the bridge in record time.

The original bridge dating back to 1961 was destroyed by the flooded Ostravice River on 16 May 2010. The construction of the bridge at its original length of 93.20 m was completed in record time. The regional management decided in the interest of the citizens of Baška to put the bridge into operation early, this means that some minor finishing work will still be carried out on the site after the bridge has been put to operation. The bridge was opened to the general public on 25 August and since 26 August 2011 public transport commenced again and new bus timetables became valid. The total cost of the bridge construction amounts to CZK 91,650,148.00 out of which CZK 45,825,000.00 was provided by the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic because the construction was included in the programme for renewal of the municipal and regional properties affected by a natural or other disaster. The remaining part was covered from the insurance payment provided by the Česká pojišťovna insurance company for the damage to the properties owned by the Moravian Silesian Regional Authority and also from the budget of the MSRA at the amount of CZK 616,748.00.

“After the flood in 2010, we faced the question of how to have the only bridge over the Ostravice River in Baška, which was damaged by the flood, repaired as soon as possible. Many discussions were held and plenty of emotions were felt. Today, we may state that the decision we took was correct. I would therefore like to thank the residents of Baška for their patience. I must note that the requirement for the bridge to be built in the shortest possible period of time has been met,” said the President of the Region, Jaroslav Pavlas during the ribbon cutting ceremony, adding, “Our thanks go out to everybody who participated in the project.”

“The construction of the new bridge that replaced the original one damaged by the flood was not easy. Our workers however made efforts to renew the only communication between the municipalities of Kunčice and Baška as soon as possible,” said Michal Štefl, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of OHL ŽS, a.s. during the ceremonial opening.

Currently, work not affecting the utilization of the bridge is under way on the stone fortification of the bridge pillar, and subsequently soft ground shaping will be carried out, the provisional footbridge for residents will be dismantled and replacement trees and shrubs will be planted. Thus, the construction will be finished and the Moravian Silesian Regional Authority will ask the competent administration body to issue a completion certificate.