PARIS, June 09. /ITAR-TASS/. The Pont des Arts bridge in the center of Paris that links the two banks of the Seine River opposite the Louvre has begun to crumble under the weight of thousands of ‘love locks’. One of the parts of the bridge has collapsed, and the crossing was temporarily closed for pedestrians.
The Mayor’s office said a temporary fence was put at the scene of the accident. In the future, the city administration intends to consider restricting the practice of attaching padlocks to bridges in Paris.
Bruno Juillard, the councilor in charge of culture at Paris city council, said a section of metal mesh which collapsed was replaced by wooden planks.
The incident at the Pont des Arts bridge took place on Sunday evening. Under the weight of attached padlocks, around 2.4m of fence collapsed inwards. No one was injured in the incident, but the police immediately evacuated the people from the bridge and blocked the access to the crossing until late evening.
The Pont des Arts bridge was constructed at the beginning of the 19th century under the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. The romantic tradition of attaching ‘love locks’ to the bridge began in 2008.