Borovsko Bridge
The Borovsko Bridge is an unfinished highway bridge near Borovsko, part of Bernartice municipality, Central Bohemian Region, commonly known as the "Czech Avignon" or "Hitler's Bridge". The original bridge over the Sedlický stream near Borovsko was under construction at KM 59 of the highway between 1939 – 42 and 1948 – 50. Construction was commenced in July 1939 by the civil engineering company "ing. J. Domanský". The planned budget was 5,552,400 crowns. The bridge was finished at the end of 1950 and formally approved by the authorities in 1952. However, highway construction was suspended in the 1950s, the rampart at the southern end was never finished, and the bridge was abandoned. The 1960s brought new hope for the Borovsko Bridge and Czech highways. At the time, the project of the new large drinking water reservoir for Prague was under consideration. Natural supply provided a high quality of water but a huge artificial lake was to flood a number of valleys, including two valleys where the Borovsko Bridge and the smaller neighbouring Sedmpanský Bridge were situated. Various scenarios were examined. One of them was reducing the lake size, but the city of Prague required millions of litres of drinking water. The other option was hydroinsulation of the bridge construction – but this approach was almost as costly as building a new bridge, even without considering the cost of water protection in case of accident etc. Finally, the decision was made to bypass the valley and to build a completely new bridge a few hundred metres to the south. The dam has been in operation since 1976 and this sector of the D1 highway has been in operation since 1977. The Borovsko Bridge and the Sedmpanský Bridge were abandoned, as were the routes a few kilometres west and east from the bridges' location. Today, huge spans of the Borovsko Bridge have been flooded almost up to the roadway. The bridge rests unseen in the middle of the forests of the Bohemian-Moravian Highland, as the whole lake district is a forbidden area and entry is strictly prohibited to ensure water reservoir protection.[1]
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Coordinates: 49°41′58.3″N 15°6′3.17″E / 49.699528°N 15.1008806°E