Baratashvili Bridge in
Tbilisi, Georgia, has been renovated – and with the new, one of the
pleasantries of the old has been lost – hopefully temporarily.
Baratashvili Bridge (Baratashvili
Khidi) is a traffic and pedestrian bridge, built in 1966. In the 17th century
it was the Aragvi Bridge, before a new Mukhrani Bridge was built in 1811. It
was dismantled when the Baratashvili Bridge was constructed at the same site. It
is situated over the Kura River, between the Dry Bridge and the Peace Bridge.
The bridge was named
after the Georgian romantic poet, Nikoloz Baratashvill – and is often called
the Bridge of Love. On the railing on the traffic bridge were bronze full-sized
statues of couples in love – the Lovers. Sculptor Gia Japaridze (1945-)
installed the statues on the bridge in 2006. The figures were removed during
the renovations.
In 2015 it was closed
for renovations. The bridge deck, the hydro isolation systems, the barriers and
the underground pedestrian walkway needed remedial work. The Tbilisi Mayor’s
Office budgetted $862,345 for the repairs, to be finished by April 2016. The
renovations were almost complete when the bridge reopened to vehicular and
pedestrian traffic on 14 March 2016. Only the underground walkway needed to be
completed – taking a month.
Historical photographs
of the underground walkway, from a private archive in Tbilisi, were displayed
in 2013 during a project by Irina Kurtishvili and Andreas M Kaufmann. They
mounted the old photographs on the graffii-covered walls, showing the bridge a
100 years before, in 1813. The underground walkway was initially envisioned –
innovatively – as an exhibition space for art. It only lasted a short while.
But over the years the
underground walkway was a forgotten part of the bridge. Not seen from the
roadway where the lovers statues attracted tourists, the underground walkway
was rarely used. It was dark, the concrete was cracking, the railing looked
dangerous and it smelled rank.
From 2010 to 2015
whenever I went to the Baratashvii Bridge, I never walked on the top where the
cars drove (and there was also a footpath). I always walked through the underground
walkway. There were three reasons: (1) it was protected from vehicle fumes, (2)
it was quiet, and (3) there was a bench – in fact there were two benches. From
the bridge there is a wonderful view of the Peace Bridge – the well-known
Bridge of Peace made of glass panel and spectacularly lit at night. From the
quiet of the underground walkway of Baratashvili Bridge, I could peacefully
view the Peace Bridge, read a book, or just take some silent time away from
everyone else: except for an old man, who also sat on a bench to look at the
Peace Bridge.
With the renovations
of the underground walkway, the passageway is stronger, safer, and well lit.
Now the pedestrian traffic is prolific – there wasn’t two seconds on my own
when I visted last week. And the benches weren’t there. Nor was the old man.
Some things, with progress, will be forever lost.
THE NEW UNDERGROUND WALKWAY
THE OLD UNDERGROUND WALKWAY
MARTINA NICOLLS is an international
aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of
Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet
(2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
WONDERFUL
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