Eiffel Bridge, Ungheni

For other uses of "Eiffel", see Eiffel (disambiguation).

The Eiffel Bridge (Romanian: Podul Eiffel) is a bridge over the River Prut and a checkpoint between Moldova and Romania. The bridge is located between Ungheni, Moldova and Ungheni, Romania.

Eiffel Bridge
Coordinates	47°11′59.6″N 27°47′13.5″E
Crosses	Prut
Locale	between Ungheni and Ungheni, Iași
Preceded by	A bridge built in 1874
History
Designer	Nikolai Belelubsky[1]
Opened	21 April [O.S. 9 April] 1877
Location

History

The bridge in c. 1880

On 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1872 a Russian diplomatic agent, Ivan Alekseevich Zinov'ev, and Gheorghe Costaforu signed a rail junction convention, which was ratified on 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1873.^[2] and the Iași-Ungheni railway was opened on 1 August 1874. The railway Chișinău-Cornești-Ungheni (built 1871–1875) was opened on 1 June 1875 by the Russian Empire in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).^{[citation needed]} Ungheni customs were established in 1875 after putting into operation the Chișinău-Ungheni-Iași railroad. The railway Chișinău-Cornești was already opened in 1873.

The first metal bridge was built according to the design of the Russian engineer Nikolai Belelubsky between 1874-1876. The first Russian troops crossed the bridge in 1877. Due to a testing process that lasted another 5 years, the bridge did not come into civilian use until 1881. It was blown up by retreating Russian troops on 22 June 1941 and rebuilt for the needs of German-Romanian troops. Bombed in 1944, it was rebuilt by the Russians between 1944 and 1946.^[1]

Today, the bridge remains a strategically positioned construction under the supervision of border guards.

Gallery

• 
  The bridge in 2024
• 
  Aerial view of the Eiffel Bridge

See also

• Moldovan–Romanian relations
• List of bridges in Moldova
• List of bridges in Romania