Brăila Bridge

The Brăila Bridge (Romanian: Podul peste Dunăre de la Brăila) is a road suspension bridge in Romania over the Danube river, between Brăila, a major city in eastern Romania, and the opposite bank of the river in Tulcea County, on the DN2S national road and European route E87.^[3] It is the first bridge over the maritime Danube sector and the fourth bridge over the Romanian section of the river. At nearly 2 km in length, it is the largest bridge over the Danube,^[4] and the third longest suspension bridge in the European Union.^[5] The bridge improves road traffic accessibility of the Galați-Brăila area to Constanța and Tulcea, and connections of the Moldavia and Muntenia regions with Dobruja. The European Union co-funded the project with €363 million from Cohesion Policy funds.^[4]

Brăila Bridge Podul peste Dunăre de la Brăila
Bridge photographed in September 2022
Coordinates	45°18′52″N 28°00′12″E
Carries	Four lanes of the DN2S national road, two sidewalks (intended for maintenance works only)[1]
Crosses	Danube
Locale	Between Brăila, Brăila County and Smârdan, Tulcea County
Official name	Suspended Bridge over the Danube in Brăila Area
Maintained by	Romanian National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (C.N.A.I.R. S.A.)
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge
Total length	2,194.3 m (7,199 ft)
Width	31.7 m (104 ft)
Height	192.64 m (632.0 ft) (towers)[2]
Longest span	1,120 m (3,670 ft)
Clearance below	38 metres (125 ft)
Design life	120 years
History
Designer	Astaldi S.p.A. and IHI Infrastructure Systems Co., Ltd.
Constructed by	Webuild S.p.A. and IHI Infrastructure Systems Co., Ltd.
Construction start	19 December 2018
Construction end	2023
Construction cost	€500 million
Opened	6 July 2023
Location

Construction

The Brăila Bridge under construction, August 2021

First studies for a bridge in the Lower Danube region were done in 1986, but the first prefeasibility study was conducted in 1996. The final feasibility study was finished in 2016 by ISPCF [ro] and Pegaso Ingegneria.^[6]

In 2017, the bridge project was awarded to the Astaldi (now Webuild) and IHI Infrastructure Systems association for an estimated cost of €434 million, and the construction works started in December 2018.^[7][8][9]

In May 2021, the construction of the two main pillars had finished, and preparations had been started to deploy the first cables across the bridge.^[10] On 20 August 2021, it was reported that the construction of the bridge is on schedule and that half of the bridge was already done.^[11]

The first of the 86 suspended segments of the roadway were installed in spring 2022, with the last one on 28 June 2022. The bridge was opened on 6 July 2023.^[12]

Specifications

The Brăila suspension bridge and the connecting road project

The project consists of the construction of a suspension bridge of 1,974.30 m (6,477.4 ft) length with a 1,120 m (3,670 ft) main span, and two side spans of 489.65 m (1,606.5 ft) long on the Brăila bank of the river and 364.65 m (1,196.4 ft) long on the Tulcea bank of the river, two access viaducts of 110 m (360 ft) length on both sides (which bring the total length of the bridge to 2,194.3 m (7,199 ft)), and a connecting road with a total length of approximately 23 km (14 mi).^[13]

See also

• Roads in Romania
• List of bridges in Romania
• List of longest suspension bridge spans