Lenora wooden bridge, Covered wooden footbridge in Lenora, Czech Republic
Lenora wooden bridge is a covered timber footbridge over the Teplá Vltava, next to road I/39 toward Volary. It is 25 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, with wooden boarding up to a hipped roof. The deck rests on three rectangular stone pillars about 3 metres above the water, and wooden stairs lead up from the south side.
The bridge was built in 1870 to support timber rafting operations that became vital to the region for nearly a century. Operations ceased in 1959, making this structure a rare testament to an economic practice from the past.
The name Rechle comes from the German der Rechen, meaning rake, after the beams set through floor openings to hold back logs. The bridge kept this function until the Lipno dam was built in 1959, when timber stopped floating down the Vltava.
Access to the bridge is by foot, and the route is typically easy to locate as it follows a local path through the village. A renovation completed in 2014 stabilized the structure, so crossing it is safe and the wooden surfaces are well maintained.
Of the nineteen covered wooden bridges in the Czech Republic, only two served timber floating: this one and the bridge in Český Krumlov. The Czech National Bank put the Rechle on a 5,000 CZK gold commemorative coin in 2013.
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