PHOTOS: Budapest Chain Bridge renovation reaches a milestone, new handrails presented

According to the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, a manufacturer in Csepel, the capital’s 21st district, is currently repainting the handrails and other heritage elements of the new Chain Bridge. The bridge has been the landmark of Budapest for more than 150 years, and its reconstruction goes as planned, Mr Karácsony added.

According to the mayor’s Facebook post, the bridge’s reconstruction continues in the workshops during the winter. The handrail system of the iconic building spans 704 metres. But rust has damaged most of them since the last renovation of the bridge was carried out in the Socialist era. Thus, many elements were remade. Based on the plans, they will be installed in February.

According to bkk.hu, the elements will be cleaned and covered with a three-ply anticorrosion layer. The new colour of the bridge will be blueish-grey. There will be 20 balustrades reinstalled. Eight of them were re-manufactured based on archive photos of the 1914-1915 appearance of the bridge.

Here are some photos:

Since the bridge is a construction site during the renovation, pedestrians are not allowed to use it until the end of the project. However, you can travel on it by BKK buses. Furthermore, you do not even have to pay for the crossing. You may use the BKK vehicles for free between the Clark Ádám tér and the Széchenyi István tér, bkk.hu highlighted.

Budapest’s first and Hungary’s symbolic bridge was reopened last December for cyclists, motorcyclists and taxis. Based on the plans, the bridge will be ready by this autumn.

And some additional photos are below:

Source: Facebook/KaracsonyGergely, bkk.hu