The Regional Road Administration and Maintenance of the Karlovy Vary Region has announced that the reconstruction of the bridge near Stará Chodovská in the Sokolov district will be extended because of defects found later, and it intends to reopen the bridge in early December 2026.
.JPG)
The bridge on the regional road between Vřesová and Vintířov crosses the Chodovský potok stream and a local road in the locality of Stará Chodovská, which is part of the town of Chodov in the Sokolov district. It is being modernised, and according to the Regional Road Administration and Maintenance of the Karlovy Vary Region (KSÚS) its completion is being postponed because of structural defects discovered later.[1]
Defects found
According to KSÚS spokesman Vaněk, it will be necessary to repair the sides of the girders and the joints between them, treat exposed reinforcement and add protective filling around the prestressing cables.[1]
A subsequent structural recalculation further showed that, to install the new bearings, the bearing sills on both abutments of the bridge will have to be broken out and concreted again over a larger area, and their anchoring supplemented. The original design documentation did not anticipate this scope of work, which, according to Vaněk, changes the procedure and extent of the construction so much that the contractor cannot meet the originally planned completion date.[1]
Response of the region
The director of KSÚS of the Karlovy Vary Region, Jiří Šlachta, said: “We must resolve the newly discovered shortcomings before traffic is restored, even though it means extending the construction. We realise that a longer closure complicates people’s everyday journeys, but the safety of drivers comes first for us. The aim is to open the bridge as soon as possible, but with certainty that it will serve safely in the years to come.”[1]
Šlachta also said that, unless further unforeseeable circumstances arise, the road maintainers will try to put the bridge back into operation in early December 2026.[1]
Funding and traffic
The modernisation of the bridge is funded by the Karlovy Vary Region, and the contractor is VIAMONT Servis a. s. The original value of the contract was approximately CZK 19.7 million including VAT; by how much the amount will increase because of the additional work is not yet clear and will depend on specifying its scope.[1]
According to the latest traffic census from 2025, an average of 1,628 motor vehicles a day pass through the section in both directions, including lorries and scheduled buses. According to KSÚS, the bridge serves the everyday journeys of residents of the surrounding municipalities and is also important for supplies and services in this part of the Sokolov district.[1]
Related articles: Karlovy Vary Region, Sokolov, Stará Chodovská
Chronology
- — The reconstruction of the bridge at Stará Chodovská in the Sokolov area will take longer because of defects found later; the Karlovy Vary Region road administration aims to reopen it in early December. iDNES.cz: Karlovy Vary iROZHLAS
Pages that link here
Sources
- iDNES.cz (Karlovy Vary) — 2 October 2026