Love Lock Bridges: Time-honoured tradition or heavy hazard?

Where it all began

The story reportedly began with the Most Ljubavi Bridge in Serbia, the meeting spot of a Serbian couple named Nada and Relja that were separated during the conflict of the First World War.

This inspired the women of Vrnjačka Banja, the town where the Most Ljubavi Bridge is situated, to write theirs and their partners names on padlocks and attach them to the railings of the bridge.

At the height of their popularity

Since the tradition began, other bridges just like the Most Ljubavi have been adorned with these padlocks. Other instantly recognisable examples include the Pont des Artes in Paris, the Makartsteg in Salzburg and the Hohenzollern in Cologne.

The Pont des Artes was home to over 700,000 locks, which according to CNN¹ weigh roughly the same as 20 elephants.

The problem with the padlocks

When Love Lock Bridges were first becoming popular, a few padlocks here and there didn’t seem to cause too much of an issue. However, as the trend became more and more popular and more and more padlocks started appearing, the integrity of the bridges was starting to become compromised.

Even though one padlock is not particularly heavy, most if not all of these bridges are not equipped to handle the weight of hundreds of thousands of padlocks.

It is reported that approximately 7,500 kilos of padlocks were being added to the Pont des Artes every year, and this resulted in the bridge suffering structural damage so severe that one side of the fence of the bridge fell off.

There is also an environmental aspect to consider when it comes to this love ritual. Part of the process is to release the key from the padlock and throw it in to the water below, leading to pollution of the rivers caused by the rust expelled from the thousands of keys that end up in the water, as well as blocking vital draining facilities that could lead to flooding.

This led to the city of Paris taking action in 2015, by removing every single padlock from the bridge. Even though the city made use of the padlocks by auctioning them off in support of refugee charities, the citizens of Paris were up in arms about this tradition being banned.

The local council were so serious about stamping out this trend that the railings of the Pont des Artes have been replaced with glass panels, meaning that even if residents or tourists wanted to break the ban, they had no way of doing so.

Other countries soon followed suit, with locks being removed from bridges in Australia and the US for similar reasons.

Affectionate alternatives

While many were upset to part with this century long tradition, some countries have offered alternatives to romantic residents and tradition loving tourists, so that they can symbolise their commitment without the structural and environmental consequences.

For example, those visiting Moscow can attach their locks to specifically designed metal trees, so that couples can still engage in the tradition without polluting the landscape or causing possibly serious structural problems, as well as the trees adding an artistic element to the streets of Moscow.

While the concept of Love Lock Bridges has all of the sentimental value you could want in a romantic tradition, the consequences of so many wanting to participate in it has resulted in risks that are too severe to ignore. So, next time you want to symbolise the bond you have with a partner, maybe consider an alternative gesture.

If you're in need of a padlock for its true purpose, you can find one that is right for you in our range here.  

References:  

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/paris-love-locks-bridges-feat/index.html