World’s longest suspension bridge built in Moravia
Construction workers in the mountain resort of Dolní Morava in the northeast of the Czech Republic are completing a suspension bridge above a local valley at a height of 95 metres. Called Sky Bridge 721, it will be the longest bridge of its kind in the world measuring nearly three quarters of a kilometre. The suspension bridge should open to visitors in the spring of next year.
The suspension bridge in Dolní Morava will span the valley of Mlýnský Potok or Mill Stream in English, connecting the opposite ridges of Slamník and Chlum. Hikers will step on the bridge at an altitude of 1,125 metres.
To complete the suspension bridge, builders will use over a thousand cubic metres of concrete. The total construction will weight over 400 tonnes and the main rope will have over seven centimetres in diameter.
According to the operators of the Dolní Morava resort, the bridge will be the longest of its kind in the world. Presently, the world’s longest suspension bridge is located near the Portuguese town of Arouca. It measures 516 meters and hangs 176 metres above the ground.
The suspension bridge in Dolní Morava will not be the only tourist attraction in the area. In 2015, the resort opened a so-called Trail in the Clouds, an impressive steel and wooden structure with a height of 55 meters, designed by architect Zdeněk Fránek.
From the top, visitors can admire the peak of Kralický Sněžník, the valley of the Morava River, but also the Giant Mountains and the beautiful hills of Jeseníky. Those who like adventure can descend on a 100-metre-long spiral slide.
Dolní Morava is the most popular mountain resort in the Pardubice region, attracting between 700,000 and 800, 000 tourists every year. While the new attraction will definitely attract even more tourists to the area, nature conservationists are not very happy about it.
They argue the area will suffer from overcrowding, just like the country’s most popular Giant Mountains, and the increasing number of visitors will threaten the precious ecosystem of the nearby Kralický Sněžník.
Following the opening of the Trail in the Clouds in 2015, some of the local inhabitants have already been complaining about an increasing number of people and traffic.
