One of the determining structures of route of the Junction line, which connected the present Central station with Station of Smíchov, was a railway bridge over the river of Vltava at Výtoň. Its construction started in August 1870, when embankments started to be built at the side of Vyšehrad. Railway traffic was started on the new bridge on 15th August 1872 and it was single-line.
At turn of the centuries the bridge was not satisfying the technical aspect and so it was decoded on replacement, when keeping the previous bridge axis. Main parts of structure, which was of mild iron and thus it was infinitely better in technical and especially dynamic character than the old structure, were delivered by well-proven company Bratři Prášilové. This company was also charged with the bridge replacement.
Replacement of the old bridge with the new one was done by shifting, using the hydraulic lifters. Another important criterion was that duration of closure of railway traffic was as short as possible. The new, wider structure, now double-line with wooden pedestrian pavements, was assembled in advance as soon as in 1901 on wooden scaffoldings, built closer to Vyšehrad. Due to larger dimensions between pillars it had one bay less than the old bridge. Replacement of the bridge bays started on 30th September 1901 at 6 a.m. and structure of the bay on the side of Vyšehrad had been replaced even earlier. The single old bays were, after disconnection of rails, replaced from the original bed to the prepared provisional scaffoldings on the water. The new structure was pushed to the released place with fitting to the new pillars. Fitting of the bridge ended at noon on 1st October 1901. The first trains went on the new bridge at night on 1st to 2nd October.
Bridge replacement became a Prague sensation; traffic closure took 36 hours, the replacement itself 18 hours. A lot of viewers were watching the show of Czech workers’ skills.
