What has been percieved as a gesture of love for decades is now causing an engineering headache in Paris.
Le Pont des Arts, the famous footbridge where lovers leave initialed padlocks, is buckling under the weight of all the extra metal. The Paris mayor’s office temporarily closed the bridge yesterday to replace a collapsed grate, adorned with thousands of metal locks.
The 200KG grate collapsed yesterday and is one of just 50. Locks weighing up to 90 grams have added an additional combined weight of 10 tons to the bridge.
The Pont des Arts has since been reopened today and is as crowded as ever, Bloomberg has reported, with lock-sellers seen vaunting their wares.
Parisian mayor Bruno Julliard is seeking ‘artistic alternatives’ to the use of love locks, according to a statement he made to local press. But not everyone thinks highly of the romantic gesture. An online petition on the www.nolovelocks.com website has gathered 7,465 signatures since January 2014.
“Our mission is to seek measures to fight against this plague by working in partnership with the City of Paris,” reads a statement on the group’s website.