Nový Most

Nový Most
Nový Most
	; Nový Most, from Bratislava Castle
Official name	Most SNP
Crosses	Danube
Locale	Bratislava
Design	asymmetric, double-decked cable stayed bridge
Total length	430.8 metres (1,413 ft)
Width	21.0 metres (68.9 ft)
Height	84.60 metres (277.6 ft) (pylon)
Longest span	303 metres (994 ft)
Construction begin	1967
Construction end	1972
Opened	August 26, 1972
Coordinates	48°08′18″N 17°06′16″E / 48.1384°N 17.104581°ECoordinates: 48°08′18″N 17°06′16″E / 48.1384°N 17.104581°E

Bratislava Castle and St. Martin's Cathedral, as seen from Nový Most

Nový Most (English: New Bridge; formerly Most SNP, Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising) is a road bridge over the Danube in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the 32nd-tallest, and thus shortest, member of the World Federation of Great Towers, and is the only bridge to be a member. It is the world's longest cable-stayed bridge to have one pylon and one cable-stayed plane.

It is an asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge with a main span length of 303 metres. Its steel construction is suspended from steel cables, connected on the Petržalka side to two pillars. The total length of the bridge is 430.8 metres, its width 21 metres, and it weighs 7537 tonnes.

A special attraction is its flying saucer-shaped structure housing a restaurant, called "UFO" (since 2005; previously called Bystrica), on the bridge's 84.6 metre pylon. The restaurant is reached using an elevator situated in the left pillar, and offers a good view over Bratislava. In the right pillar there is an emergency staircase with 430 stairs. Nový Most has 4 upper lanes for cars, and lanes for bicycles and pedestrians beneath the roadway on both sides.

Name

Since its construction in 1972 the bridge was called Most SNP (English: Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising), although locally it was called New Bridge. In 1993, its name was changed by the Bratislava city Parliament to Nový Most (English: New Bridge) to unify its official name with the one actually used by the people. On 29 March 2012 members of the Bratislava city Parliament voted in favor of an initiative by the Mayor of Old Town Táňa Rosová (SDKÚ-DS) to change the bridge's name back to Most SNP, effective 29 August 2012.¹

Construction

The bridge was built between 1967 and 1972 under a project managed by A. Tesár, J. Lacko, and I. Slameň. It officially opened on August 26, 1972, as the second bridge over the Danube in Bratislava. A significant section of the Old Town below Bratislava Castle, which included nearly all of the Jewish quarter, was demolished to create the roadway that led to it; on the other hand, the bridge improved access between Petržalka and the rest of the city. Parts of the historical city walls were unearthed during construction.