Upon this ground the piers of the bridge are erected.
The historic Charles Bridge in Prague.
This was made watertight using mud and reinforced with sand.
Water was then pumped out from the pit by a water wheel.
The subsoil was most likely reinforced using wooden piles driven with a pile driver.
Upon this, a wooden foundation grate composed of oak beams and planks was placed.
This grate was fixed with large round stones, which were interconnected by wrought iron bars.
Once the foundation was prepared, the masonry of the pillar could be started.
Finally, paving was laid made of hard rock.
The bridge has 16 arches and 15 pillars, each shielded by ice guards.
Its 512 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide.
To preserve these statues, they were replaced with replicas during the 1960s.
The originals are at Pragues National Museum.
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The bridge suffered several disasters throughout the six hundred years of its existence.
Flood damages were the most frequent, with the first striking only 30 years after the bridge was completed.
In 1496, one of the arches came crashing down when water damaged the supporting pillars.
Today, the Charles Bridge is one of Pragues foremost attraction.
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