Love overload
Posted on June 2, 2015
Paris officals have predicted that between 700,000 and a million padlocks will be dismantled, after part of the Pont des Arts bridge collapsed under their weight last summer.
Workmen have begun removing the sections of the bridge where lovelocks had been attached, as it would take to long to remove each lock individually.
Weighing in at an estimated 45 tons, they have been a continuous headache for the city’s council, which claims the trend is causing “long-term heritage degradation and a risk for visitors’ safety”.
Last summer, a chunk of the bridge collapsed under the weight of the padlocks, causing tourists to be hurriedly evacuated from the area.
The metal grills which run along the 155m bridge will also be replaced by padlock-proof panels made out of flexiglass, in an attempt to consign the tradition to history once and for all.
We can not understand the public outcry and people being upset about their locks being removed? As surely they must understand the risk invovled with leaving the locks in place, it could potentially injure or kill several people if it were to collapse further.
We also beleive the council have weighed up the cost vs pracicability and that replacing the gridles for glass will provide a long term solution reducing the risk as far as possible.
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