In mid-April, Prague’s own municipal technology company THMP carried out an endoscopic survey of the interior of the statues on Čechův Bridge. The bronze statues of female torchbearers and three-headed hydras on its pillars could come back to life again with the original special effects they used to feature at the time when the shortest bridge over river Vltava was built. To do this, gas and water pipelines need to be installed inside the statues - footage from the special cameras showed some remains of the original gas pipelines but no water plumbing inside the statues.

The project, which will make the torches burn with live fire the hydras spout water at regular intervals, was given the green light by City Councilor Jan Chabr, who is in charge of Prague’s asset management. “The bridge is a protected technical monument, so we must first gather enough information for the National Heritage Institute and the city’s conservation authority and propose a method of potential restoration. We came to the conclusion that the most appropriate way would be to start with an endoscopic survey and search for the remains of the original pipelines inside the statues,” the councilor said.

With its 235 luminaires, the Čechův Bridge is one of the most strongly illuminated bridges in Prague. It is decorated with 8 statues, 4 of which are located on its pillars. In addition to the restoration of the effect systems, there are also plans to modernize both the streetlights and the bridge’s ceremonial lighting. The later should provide symbolic illumination on special occasions.