On a Paris bridge, the end of a love too heavy to bear

Workmen in Paris started clipping off hundreds of thousands of padlocks attached by lovers to the Pont des Arts bridge on Monday, afraid the sheer weight of the romantic tokens could put the 19th-century structure at risk. The pedestrian bridge has become a shrine for amorous tourists and Parisians alike, who seek to immortalize their love by leaving initialed padlocks attached to its metallic grid railings. "It’s the end of the padlocks,“ deputy Paris mayor Bruno Julliard said in a statement.

They spoil the aesthetics of the bridge, are structurally bad for it and can cause accidents.

Paris deputy mayor Bruno Julliard

The railings will initially be replaced with panels covered in street art, and later this year with plexiglass, he said. Paris authorities are looking to recycle the metal used for the padlocks for humanitarian projects "so that the symbol of love which these couples have invested in them will not be lost entirely,” Julliard told reporters on Monday. But authorities will also take a zero-tolerance attitude toward padlocks turning up at other locations around Paris, including the iconic Eiffel Tower, Julliard added.

We all want Paris to remain the city of love, of romance. But we think it can stay the city of love without love locks.

Bruno Julliard