Gold Coin 5000 CZK Railway Bridge in Žampach 2013 Proof

1/2 Oz Gold Coin - Railway Bridge in Žampach

The obverse side of the coin depicts several arches of the railway bridge in Žampach shown from the ceiling. Above the depiction of the bridge arches is a composition of heraldic animals from the great state emblem - a Czech lion in the centre, a Silesian eagle to the right and a Moravian eagle to the left. Inside the middle arch is the name of the cycle "MOSTY", the name of the state "CZECH REPUBLIC" and the denomination of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "5000 CZK" in four lines. The coin was minted by the Czech Mint and its mark, which is formed by the composition of the letters 'Č' and 'M', is at the bottom edge of the coin.

The reverse side of the coin depicts a general view of the railway bridge in Žampach set in the surrounding landscape. Above the depiction of the bridge, the year of mintage '2013' and the text 'RAILROAD BRIDGE IN ZAMPACH' appear in four lines. The author of the coin's design is academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů. His initials, which are formed by the joined letters "FZ", are at the upper edge of the coin.

Railway bridge in Žampach
On the line of the "Posázava Pacific", which runs parallel to the Sázava, between the stations Borek-Žampach and Luki pod Medníkem, about 3 km south of Jílové and 12 km east of the confluence of the Sázava and Vltava Rivers,is one of our highest railway stone viaducts, built between 1898 and 1899 in just two years. Its seven arches have a span of 12.5 metres. The bridge is in a directional plan in the shape of an arch. The highest arch is 41 (according to other data 46) metres above the gorge called Kocour and over the Studený stream. Freight traffic by rail gradually displaced raft traffic on the Sázava and attracted industry to the region.
Operation on the line started in 1900, but some parts of the line (e.g. Prague-Modřany) had been in operation since 1882. The viaduct in Žampach - our highest ever stone viaduct - is only one metre lower than Prague's Nusel Bridge with its metro line. On its piers we can see - similarly to the piers of the railway viaduct in Mezihorie - rows of projecting cracks at the arch footings: the cracks carried the cross beams on which the ramenates (wooden arch reinforcements under the plank formwork) were built. After the completion of the construction, the cracks were left on the piers because they supposedly separated the pier from the arch footing in a visual way and thus disturbed the elegance of the piers. The ancient Romans already built their aqueducts in this way - and the old Roman bridges are proof of this (for example, the Ponte Rotto over the Tiber).

This product is part of the following product sets:

Bridges of the Czech Republic series