The Danube Bridge (also known as the Friendship Bridge; bg, Мост на дружбата, ''Most na druzhbata'' or, more commonly, Дунав Mост, ''Dunav most''; ro, Podul Prieteniei or ''Podul de la Giurgiu'') is a steel

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

over the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

connecting the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n bank to the south with the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n bank to the north and the cities of

Ruse Ruse may refer to: Places *Ruse, Bulgaria, a major city of Bulgaria **Ruse Municipality ** Ruse Province ** 19th MMC – Ruse, a constituency *Ruše, a town and municipality in north-eastern Slovenia * Ruše, Žalec, a small settlement in east-ce ...

and Giurgiu respectively. It is one of only two bridges connecting Romania and Bulgaria, the other one being the

New Europe Bridge The New Europe Bridge ( bg, Мостът Нова Европа, Mostŭt Nova Evropa; ro, Podul Noua Europă) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Vidin, Bulgaria, and Calafat, Romania. It is the second bridge on the shared section o ...

between the cities of

Vidin Vidin ( bg, Видин, ; Old Romanian: Diiu) is a port city on the southern bank of the Danube in north-western Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Romania and Serbia, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as ...

and

Calafat Calafat () is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the br ...

History

Opened on 20 June 1954 and designed by Soviet engineers V. Andreev and N. Rudomazin, the bridge is long and was, at the time, the only bridge over the Danube shared by Bulgaria and Romania, with other traffic being served by

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

and land routes. Decorations were designed by Bulgarian architect Georgi Ovcharov. The bridge has two decks; a two lane motorway and a railway. Sidewalks for pedestrians are also included. The central part of the bridge (85 m) is mobile and can be lifted for oversized boats passage. The maintenance of the mobile part is Romania's responsibility and is periodically checked. The bridge was constructed in two and a half years with the aid of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The Soviets named it the "Friendship Bridge", but, since the fall of the communist regimes in both countries, the bridge got the more functional name of "Danube Bridge". Border control stations are present on the bridge, due to its serving as a border crossing between the two countries. Since January 2007 there is no more customs control and the passport/identity card control is done "on one desk" either by the Bulgarian or the Romanian border police, being an "internal border" within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. Border control will be completely removed when Bulgaria and Romania join the

Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...

. On 3 September 2011 the Bulgarian part of the bridge was opened, after two months of rehabilitation. There are a pair of rectangular towers supported by pillars on both ends.

Tolls

The following

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic), the historic practice of charging for road use ** Shadow toll, ...

s apply for crossing the Danube Bridge:

Gallery

File:Pont_de_l%27amiti%C3%A9_Rouss%C3%A9-Giurgiu.jpg,

n side of the bridge File:Danube_Bridge_from_the_train.jpg, Middle of the bridge seen from the '' Bosphorus Express'' train (

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

–

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

)

References

External links

* *
Halfway down the Danube
', a short story about crossing the bridge {{Authority control Truss bridges Bridges in Bulgaria Bridges in Romania Bridges over the Danube Bridges completed in 1954 Buildings and structures in Ruse, Bulgaria Giurgiu International bridges Bulgaria–Romania border crossings Railway bridges in Bulgaria Railway bridges in Romania Road-rail bridges Steel bridges Buildings and structures in Giurgiu County Bulgaria–Soviet Union relations Romania–Soviet Union relations Toll bridges Bulgaria–Romania relations Soviet foreign aid European route E85 Double-decker bridges

History

Tolls

Gallery

See also

References

External links