A new bridge over the Danube

The new bridge over the Danube must be a road-rail one, the Romanian authorities say

Mihai Pelin, 27.10.2023, 13:50

Romania and Bulgaria
will together build a third bridge over the Danube. The two countries submitted
to the European Commission a joint project for a preliminary blueprint study
and at this stage, its implementation has already begun. The location of the
new road-rail bridge will be close to the cities of Giurgiu and Ruse and
Romania is going to support this technical solution. The European Commission is
also supporting the project, as the European Commissioner for Transport, Adina
Valean has explained. Romania is the only EU country that gets money for the construction
of roads through the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience, the European
official went on to say.

The support
comes against the issues currently faced by the Friendship Bridge, the main
connection between Romania and Bulgaria, which is 70 years old and extremely
overcrowded. At present, roughly 2 thousand lorries and over 4 thousand cars
are crossing the bridge on a daily basis. The second bridge over the Danube, at
Calafat-Vidin is also very busy.

State
Secretary with the Transport Ministry, Ionuţ Săvoiu, has offered details about
the new project.

Ionut Savoiu: Talks are underway these
days for the construction of bridges between Romania and Ukraine, between
Romania and Bulgaria. We enjoy the support of the European Commission for
another bridge over the Danube at Giurgiu-Ruse. And we are going to do anything
we can so that this one will be a road-rail bridge. I am convinced the
feasibility survey will enable us to make the right decision in this respect
and I am looking forward to getting this survey. We know the two sides want
this survey to be launched a.s.a.p and I am pretty sure the outcome of this
process will be a good bridge. And I say this from my perspective as an expert
in the field.

According to
the authorities, a survey will be conducted on the various routes leading up to
the new bridge. The greenlight for funding the new project is expected in early
2024. The timetable also includes a contract to be concluded with the European
Commission until mid-2024, and its implementation until the end of 2026 with
the two sides deciding on the location and the ways of funding the new bridge.
Besides the European funds available, the possibility of using the mechanisms
of the private-public partnership is also being considered.

This would
lead to a significant reduction of the implementation deadlines and is expected
to attract additional funds. In another development the railway linking the
Romanian city of Giurgiu to the Bulgarian city of Ruse, which has been
non-operational since 2005 will be reopened at Gradistea over the Arges River,
where a 1.3 km bridge is being constructed. At the same time the national
company CFR Infrastructure has obtained roughly 500 million Euros worth of EU
funding for the streamlining and electrification of the Bucharest-Giurgiu railway.

(bill)