Gútai Wooden Bridge

The town of Gúta boasts many tourist attractions. One of these attractions is the Gúta covered wooden bridge spanning the backwater of the Little Danube. With its 86 meters long, it is the longest fully wooden bridge in Europe. ; The original wooden bridge was built in the 1950s and was 60 meters long. The wooden bridge did not have a long life, as the cold and harsh winter weather caused the ice floes floating on the Little Danube River to completely destroy the bridge's supporting pillars, thus destroying the entire wooden bridge. When the water level is very low, the pillars of the original bridge can still be seen today. ; The current wooden bridge was rebuilt in 1992 with the help of conservationists and military experts. One of the main reasons for the reconstruction was to make it easier to approach the floating water mill on the other bank of the Little Danube in order to serve the growing tourism. The new bridge was rebuilt in just 9 days based on the original bridge model, as the locals remembered it. The pillars of the bridge are made of acacia piles treated with a special protective layer, which is why it is predicted to last 150 years. ; In 1997, the original 62-meter wooden bridge was forced to be extended by experts due to the often high water level, reaching its current length of 86 meters. ; The roof structure was built in 2000 in order to protect the bridge floor from the negative effects of the weather (rot caused by rain). ; Also due to the extreme weather, the next major renovation began in October 2015 and was completed in May of the following year. With the support of the city of Gúta and the help of city employees, a complete renovation was undertaken, in which the floor, roof, and supporting beams were also renovated. According to experts' calculations, it can serve the needs of the people of Güta and tourists for 25 years.