In 2018, an experimental footbridge made of UHPC was constructed. The bridge spans the Dřetovický Stream in the Central Bohemian village of Vrapice, near the city of Kladno. It connects the village with the right bank of the stream, where the cemetery is located. Architects Ondřej Císler and Petr Tej conceived the footbridge as a “magical portal between the world of the living and the dead.” The structure is made of a cast of high-strength, frost-resistant UHPC Valucem C120 concrete with steel microfibers providing omnidirectional reinforcement. The resulting structure appears very cohesive and delicate. The footbridge weighs 3.5 metric tons, and the total amount of material used is 1.4 cubic meters of UHPC Valucem C120. The footbridge has a span of 10 meters and a width of 1.5 meters.

Opposite the footbridge is a statue called ‘Strážce’ by the sculptor Jan Hendrych. It is based on original Baroque models and complements the overall spatial composition of the bridge.

It is the first UHPC structure without conventional reinforcement to be in public use. The design of the footbridge was one of the six finalists in the 2019 Czech Architecture Award competition.

Advantages of Using UHPC

• The thin-walled shell structure made it possible to significantly reduce the weight of the entire footbridge
• The use of UHPC with dispersed steel reinforcement, which completely replaced conventional rebar, once again led to a significant reduction in the structure's weight and a decrease in the labor required for production
• The use of colored Valucem C120 UHPC contributed to the striking architectural appearance and the durability of the color, which could not have been achieved with a surface coating

Client: The City of Kladno

Implementation: KŠ Prefa, Kloknerův ústav

Architectural Design: Ondřej Císler, Petr Tej