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The bridge over
the Danube River
opens to traffic
FCC opened traffic on the Vidin-Calafat
bridge, which links Bulgaria and Romania
and 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 project
was promoted by the Bulgarian Ministry
of Transport, Information Technology and
Communications.
The bridge, which is 1.9 kilometres long, is
unique in that it allows for both road and
rail traffic. Both cities will now be connec-
ted by the bridge 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 re-
furbishment of an existing passenger sta-
tion and 17 kilometres of new railway track.
According to both governments, the bridge
will be used by more than 100,000 vehicles
each year.
The new structure 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 bet-
ween the two countries. Previously, Calafat
and Vidin were only connected by a ferry,
which didn’t run until it was fully loaded with
trucks. Moreover, the journey and customs
procedures lasted up to three hours; with
Work on
the project, which
connects Vidin (Bulgaria)
and Calafat (Romania)
lasted six years
100,000 vehicles
per year
Users will pay a toll of six euros. Of
this amount, 83% of the profit will go
to the Hungarian side and the remai-
ning sum to Romania. According to
the Rumanian Government’s esti-
mates, more than 100,000 vehicles
will ride over the 1,971 metres of the
bridge each year.
the new bridge, the travel time will be less
than 15 minutes.
Of the 275 million euro budget, Bulgaria co-
vered 225 million euro and Romania 50 mi-
llion euro. This project created a thousand
jobs, of which around three-quarters were
filled by Bulgarian workers.
The Prime Ministers of both countries, Pla-
men Oresharski from Bulgaria and Victor
Ponta from Romania, attended the inaugu-
ration, along with Johannes Han, EU Com-
Connecting Bulgaria and Romania,
it was built by FCC