Attention! Chain bridge revamp starts next week!

The reconstruction work of the Chain Bridge is going to begin next Wednesday. Budapest’s iconic bridge is planned to be reopened to road traffic in December 2022 and to pedestrians in 2023. 

The renovation of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge has been planned for a long time. This week, the reconstruction preparations reached their final stage,

thanks to which the project can start on Wednesday, 16 June, announced the Budapest Transport Centre (BKK) this week.

As BKK reports, another significant preparatory work began on the Chain Bridge and its surroundings earlier this week. The contractor, A-Híd Zrt., will use a tower crane on the Pest and Buda sides that will move the raw materials and bridge elements to the site during the renovation. On the Pest side, the tower crane with a load capacity of 12 tonnes was erected at the beginning of this week. The crane, with a height of 29.75 metres, has been fixed with central iron concrete weights of 100 tonnes, needed for the ground to withstand the load of the tower crane.

As we previously reported, Budapest’s landmark will keep its main characteristics; however, due to the rusty elements of the bridge, almost everything will be replaced. As the first step of the renovation project, the contractor, A-Híd Zrt., took over the entire work area in April and closed the pedestrian underpass on the Pest side but has left the Buda side open until mid-June. In May, the decontamination of metal and ammunition of the Danube began, technicians started to rebuild the Clark Ádám Square, they started to work on the fixing of the tower crane set up on the Pest side, and the suspended scaffolding of the Chain Bridge was also completed.