Built in 1875, Most Władysława Sikorskiego is among Wrocław’s oldest bridges still in existence. It carries the Podwale route across the Southern Oder, joining the river’s left bank to Kępa Mieszczańska. Its age is not hidden behind a newer shell: this is a riveted steel truss bridge with two spans, and its middle support stands on a small island in the current.
The truss’s upper line makes an almost parabolic sweep, while the deck stiffens the lower members and cross-braces join those above. From a safe pause on the pavement, you can take in the openwork character of the steelwork. Two tram tracks have run across this bridge since the late nineteenth century, so the structure has long carried both the city’s street traffic and its public transport.
When it opened, the bridge was called Königsbrücke, meaning Royal Bridge. Shortly after the war it briefly became Most Lignicki, before receiving the name of General Władysław Sikorski. A major reconstruction in 1986 replaced older elements beneath the roadway and pavements with reinforced-concrete slabs; the road and tram surfaces were renewed in 2001, followed by corrosion protection work and new expansion joints in 2008–2009. It is also a protected immovable heritage monument.
