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| New €275m Danube Bridge 2 opens between Romania and Bulgaria  FCC, the global infrastructure company, has opened to traffic the Vidin-Calafat bridge, linking Bulgaria and Romania that reflects notable progress in connecting the two countries. This bridge, which took six years to build, represents an investment of 275 million euro and was financed in part by the European Union. The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications promoted the project.The bridge, which is 1.9 kilometres long, is unique in that it allows for both road and rail traffic, comprising a four-lane motorway, a bike path, two pedestrian walkways and central railway tracks. FCC also built the railway station accesses, which include a new goods station, the refurbishment of an existing passenger station and 17 kilometres of new railway track. According to both governments, the bridge will be used by more than 100,000 vehicles each year. It will be managed by a Bulgarian-Romanian joint venture. This transport link will channel all goods and passenger traffic between southern Europe (Greece, Macedonia and Turkey) and the north (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) without passing through non-EU countries. The bridge also reduces travel time between the two countries. Previously, Calafat and Vidin were only connected by a ferry, which did not run until it was fully loaded with trucks. Moreover, the journey and customs procedures lasted up to three hours; with the new bridge, the travel time will be less than 15 minutes. Of the 275 million euro budget, Bulgaria covered 225 million euro and Romania 50 million euro. This project created a thousand jobs, of which around three-quarters were filled by Bulgarian workers. write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Construction News :: home page |