The Łazienki Bridge () is a five- span steel bridge, across the

Vistula The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is 423 m long and 28 m wide, holding three lanes for vehicles each way, dedicated cycling lanes and sidewalks for pedestrians. The name refers to the

Łazienki Park Łazienki Park, or the Royal Baths Park (), is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in the Downtown, Warsaw, Downtown district, on Ujazdów Avenue, which is part of the Roy ...

and

Łazienki Palace The Palace on the Isle (), also known as the Baths Palace (), is a classicist palace in Warsaw's Royal Baths Park, the city's largest park, occupying over 76 hectares of the city center. From 1674 this palace and the nearby Ujazdów Castle belong ...

, which are located to the south-west of the bridge. The bridge was opened along with the Łazienkowska Thoroughfare on 22 July 1974, after three years' construction. At the bridgeheads interchanges were constructed with the Wisłostrada on the left bank and Wał Miedzyszyński on the right one. Between 1981 and 1998 the bridge was formally named ' () in honor of a Polish military commander who collaborated with the Soviets during World War II, but in practice, this name was almost never used. On a lawn underneath an entrance ramp on north-eastern side of the bridge a monument to the communist collaborator was unveiled in 1985, finally torn down in 2019 and transferred to the

Museum of Polish History The Museum of Polish History or the Polish History Museum () is a museum and national cultural institute in Warsaw, Poland. The purpose of the museum is to present the most important events in Polish history, with a particular emphasis on Polish ...

. Between 2002 and 2014 the ramps connecting the bridge to the streets along both banks of the river had to be all gradually replaced due to their poor technical condition.

2015 fire

The bridge has a service corridor below the street level. It's purpose is structure inspection, but it also houses certain installations: medium voltage electricity, telecommunication fiber-optics, etc. Since construction it had wooden floor. Due to safety concerns it was decided that all wood and other flammable materials will be replaced. Ironically, on 14 February 2015 during replacement works, when a protective layer of asbestos was already removed, a fire broke out on the eastern bank under the bridge, where the dismantled materials were temporarily stored. The flames reached the bridge and set fire on yet-to-be-dismantled elements. It was initially expected that the fire should not cause serious damage, however, post-fire examination revealed that the flame temperature reached 1000 °C and damaged the steel load-bearing elements enough that the bridge required serious refurbishment, which cost 104 million złoty (about €25 million). It was reopened to the public on 20 October 2015.

2017 expansion

In 2017 two gangways were constructed underneath the sides of the bridge dedicated for cyclists and pedestrians, improving traffic safety by separating cyclists from vehicular traffic and providing convenient access to the bridge from the esplanades on the banks of the Vistula river.

External links

* Bridges completed in 1974 Bridges in Warsaw Road bridges in Poland Ujazdów, Warsaw Solec, Warsaw Praga-Południe Bridges over the Vistula {{Warsaw-struct-stub

2015 fire

2017 expansion

See also

External links