The Anghel Saligny Bridge (), formerly King Carol I Bridge, is a complex of two railroad

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 ...

s in

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

, across the

Danube River The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

and the Borcea branch of the Danube, connecting the regions of

Muntenia Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the rarely used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in Ro ...

and

Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; or ''Dobrudža''; , or ; ; Dobrujan Tatar: ''Tomrîğa''; Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and ) is a Geography, geographical and historical region in Southeastern Europe that has been divided since the 19th century betw ...

. The bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments.Podul Carol I cu statuia Dorobantul
at constanta.djc.ro

History

The bridge complex was built between 1890 and 1895 over the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, the Borcea branch of the Danube, and Balta Ialomiței island. When it was completed with a total length (including

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

s) of it became the longest bridge in Europe and the second longest in the world. The bridge was designed by the Romanian engineer

Anghel Saligny Anghel Saligny (; 19 April 1854, Liești, Șerbănești, Moldavia – 17 June 1925, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania, Romania) was a Romanian engineer, most famous for designing the Anghel Saligny Bridge, Fetești-Cernavodă railway bridge (1895) ...

. The two cities on the riverbanks where it was built are Fetești on the

left bank In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography. In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrain alongsid ...

of the Borcea branch, and

Cernavodă Cernavodă () is a town in Constanța County, Northern Dobruja, Romania with a population of 15,088 as of 2021. The town's name is derived from the Bulgarian ''černa voda'' ( in Cyrillic), meaning 'black water'. This name is regarded by some s ...

on the right bank of the main branch. The crossing at Cernavodă has a central span of and four other spans of , connected to a viaduct with 15 spans of each. Another bridge, with three spans of and 11 spans of , was designed and built over the Borcea branch.Danube bridges
The two bridges have a total length of , of which is over the Danube and is over the Borcea. The bridges are above the water, allowing tall ships to pass under them. Between the two bridges there was a viaduct over Balta Ialomiței island, with 34 spans of each. The entire complex was inaugurated on 26 September 1895, and as a test on the opening, a convoy of 15 whistling

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s sped across at 60 km/h, followed by a train reserved for 'guests' at 80 km/h. In the 1960s, after large parts of Balta Ialomiței island were reclaimed for agriculture, the original viaduct over it was replaced with an embankment. The bridge complex was used exclusively for almost a century, until 1987 when the adjacent Cernavodă Bridge complex was inaugurated.

Gallery

File:Podul Cernavoda.JPG, The bridge during the early 20th century File:Spoorbrug Anghel Saligny over de Donau 08.jpg, Bridge archway File:Cernavoda bridges 2.jpg, Anghel Saligny Bridge (right) and Cernavodă Bridge (left) File:Spoorbrug Anghel Saligny over de Donau 10.jpg, Anghel Saligny Bridge over the main branch of the Danube File:Rumania Puente en Fetesti sobre rio Borcea.jpg, The bridge over the Borcea branch of the Danube

References

External links

King Carol I Bridge
at Structurae
Bridge over the Borcea Branch
at Structurae
The history of the Romanian Danube bridges (14 figures available)
at Semantic Scholar {{Authority control Bridges in Romania Railway bridges in Romania Bridges over the Danube Bridges completed in 1895 Buildings and structures in Constanța County Buildings and structures in Ialomița County Historic monuments in Constanța County Historic monuments in Ialomița County

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links