New Europe Bridge

About

The New Europe Bridge, also known as Danube Bridge 2 (Bulgarian: Мост Нова Европа/Дунав мост 2, romanized: Most Nova Evropa/Dunav most 2; Romanian: 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 of the Danube between the two countries. It is an extradosed bridge and was built by the Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, at the cost of €226 million. It was officially opened with a ceremony held on 14 June 2013. The first vehicles were allowed to cross the bridge after midnight, on 15 June 2013. It was previously known as Danube Bridge 2 (Bulgarian: Дунав мост 2, romanized: Dunav most 2; Romanian: Podul 2 peste Dunăre) and informally called the Vidin–Calafat Bridge or Calafat–Vidin Bridge (Bulgarian: Мост Видин–Калафат, romanized: Most Vidin–Kalafat; Romanian: Podul Calafat–Vidin). The latter is the most common name it receives in Romania.

As early as in 1909 the local authorities in Vidin (in Bulgaria) had first expressed their interest in building a bridge to Calafat (in Romania), by sending a petition to the Bulgarian parliament and to Aleksandar Malinov, who was prime minister at that time. These historical documents were shown on Bulgarian television in June 2013, during a report on the Second Danube Bridge. Bulgarian newspapers hence described the opening of the New Europe Bridge across the Danube river as 'the materialising of a century old dream'.

Building a bridge between Calafat (in Romania) and Vidin (in Bulgaria) had been discussed more seriously since the late 1970s, but the plan was abandoned over and over again. For centuries there had been no bridges crossing the Danube river between Bulgaria and Romania since the destruction of Constantine's Bridge, which was built by the Romans, until the Giurgiu–Ruse Friendship Bridge was built and opened in 1954. During the late 1990s, Bulgaria had to close its border with Yugoslavia, because of the war in Kosovo, followed by an international economic boycott against Yugoslavia. This caused great damage to the already weak economy in northwestern Bulgaria. In fact, the whole country became isolated, since Bulgarians had always been relying on the road through Serbia for their transit transport to Western Europe.

A ferry shuttle service between Vidin and Calafat used to run night and day, but the ferry boat would not start to cross the river before it was fully loaded with trucks. During the night, with little trucks arriving, ferry passengers had to wait several hours to cross the Danube river. Dry summers come with low water levels in the Danube river, which sometimes caused the ferry to get stuck at the loading ramp, making waiting times even longer. Another factor that would make ferry traffic impossible or difficult were the very cold winters, when the Danube river sometimes freezes completely. About one month after the opening of the bridge, the ferry service between Vidin and Calafat was suspended.

Travellers from Bulgaria (and Turkey) towards Central and Western Europe who wanted to avoid both the long waiting times and high transfer prices for the Calafat-Vidin ferry crossing and the customs procedures and road tolls one would face when travelling through Serbia, which is outside the European Union border, had to make a long detour towards the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge. This bridge is located 307 kilometres (191 mi) downstream and before 2013 it was the only other bridge across the Danube border that Bulgaria shares with Romania. This detour to Ruse often took longer than waiting for a ferry in Vidin or Oryahovo, however, both ways of crossing the border can take a long time. Travelling through Serbia was usually faster, but crossing outside the borders of the European Union can be a hassle with customs. Waiting at the Serbian customs can take 1 to 5 hours, especially during the summer season, when many immigrants ( people of Turkish descent, living in Germany and Austria ) travel back to their families.

The Danube Bridge 2 makes travelling in and out of Bulgaria through Vidin much easier than it was previously by ferry boat. Even though the linking roads are still far from motorway standards, the New Europe Bridge (Danube Bridge 2) has become highly popular among transport companies, because it provides a road with no custom checks from Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey to Austria, Germany and the rest of Europe, through Romania and Hungary, without leaving the European Union.

The Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge was built with help from the Soviet Union and opened in 1954 as the Friendship Bridge ( Bulgarian : Мост на дружбата, romanized : Most na druzhbata ; Romanian : Podul Prieteniei ). Instead of its official name, Bulgarians tend to simply call it the Dunav most, which means Danube Bridge. Hence the name Dunav most 2 for the second bridge crossing the Danube between Vidin and Calafat. On the other hand, in Romania, this trend is not as common. Kilometer markers are set up along the Danube river and counting starts at the Black Sea.

Although Bulgaria is south of Romania, crossing the Danube Bridge 2 from Vidin towards Calafat is done from northwest to southeast. This is because here the Danube has a very large mirrored S-shape, spanning across approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi), starting at Novo Selo and ending in Lom. The bridge is located near the middle of this reversed S.

At most part of the Danube river, the Bulgarian bank lies slightly higher above water than the Romanian river bank. However, the city of Vidin is lying lower and is protected by dikes, while the bank on the Calafat side is high above Danube river.

Starting from 1993, there was a long and bitter dispute between Romania and Bulgaria about the location of the second Danube bridge. Bulgaria wanted to revive the isolated city of Vidin, as well as to have the bridge on the shortest possible route to Central and Western Europe and argued for putting the bridge as far west as possible, between Vidin and Calafat. A research under the European PHARE programme found that the most profitable place for the bridge would have been between Lom and Rast, but neither country agreed with this. Romania wanted transiting trucks to stay in their country as long as possible by placing the bridge further east, between Turnu Măgurele and Nikopol.

In 1998, Greece offered to invest in the bridge, since they wanted a road linking Thessaloniki to the rest of Europe through Romania, as Greece was also cut off from Europe by the war in Kosovo and the boycott against Yugoslavia. The final agreement was that the second Danube bridge was to be built between Vidin and Calafat, but Romania refused to invest in other than the adjacent infrastructure on their territory.

In 1999, a stability pact for South East Europe was signed by banks and national governments, aiming to bring investments to countries like Bulgaria and Romania. Chairman of this stability pact was Bodo Hombach, who had set up a great lobby in favor of the new bridge between Vidin and Calafat. The cost of building the bridge, without the adjoining infrastructures was estimated in 2000 to be €99 million. Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov wanted to give the project a credit loan of US$180 million. Thanks to the lobby of Bodo Hombach, the European Investment Bank granted the project a credit loan of €50 million in December 2000. In January 2001, the cost for the bridge construction and the adjacent roads toward the bridge was estimated at US$200 million.

In 2004, a research on the design of the bridge was financed by the PHARE program. In 2005 and 2006, consultants were hired to control all procedures in the building process and private companies were invited to send in a bid.

In 2012, the cost of building the Danube Bridge 2 and its adjoining infrastructures raised to the sum of €226 million.

Starting from 1993, there was a long and bitter dispute between Romania and Bulgaria about the location of the second Danube bridge. Bulgaria wanted to revive the isolated city of Vidin, as well as to have the bridge on the shortest possible route to Central and Western Europe and argued for putting the bridge as far west as possible, between Vidin and Calafat. A research under the European PHARE programme found that the most profitable place for the bridge would have been between Lom and Rast, but neither country agreed with this. Romania wanted transiting trucks to stay in their country as long as possible by placing the bridge further east, between Turnu Măgurele and Nikopol.

In 1998, Greece offered to invest in the bridge, since they wanted a road linking Thessaloniki to the rest of Europe through Romania, as Greece was also cut off from Europe by the war in Kosovo and the boycott against Yugoslavia. The final agreement was that the second Danube bridge was to be built between Vidin and Calafat, but Romania refused to invest in other than the adjacent infrastructure on their territory.

In 1999, a stability pact for South East Europe was signed by banks and national governments, aiming to bring investments to countries like Bulgaria and Romania. Chairman of this stability pact was Bodo Hombach, who had set up a great lobby in favor of the new bridge between Vidin and Calafat. The cost of building the bridge, without the adjoining infrastructures was estimated in 2000 to be €99 million. Bulgarian Prime Minister Ivan Kostov wanted to give the project a credit loan of US$180 million. Thanks to the lobby of Bodo Hombach, the European Investment Bank granted the project a credit loan of €50 million in December 2000. In January 2001, the cost for the bridge construction and the adjacent roads toward the bridge was estimated at US$200 million.

In 2004, a research on the design of the bridge was financed by the PHARE program. In 2005 and 2006, consultants were hired to control all procedures in the building process and private companies were invited to send in a bid.

In 2012, the cost of building the Danube Bridge 2 and its adjoining infrastructures raised to the sum of €226 million.

Construction officially began on 13 May 2007 in Vidin in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek. According to former Romanian Minister of Transport, Constructions and Tourism Radu Berceanu, construction was planned to be completed in 2010, with most of the construction to be done by Bulgarian subcontractors.