Major Renovation of Danube Bridge

Contracting Authority

Location

Bridge over the Danube River (Danube Bridge) between the cities of Ruse and Giurgiu, National Road I-2 Ruse–Razgrad from km 0+000.00 to km 1+057.69 

Period of implementation

Glavbolgarstroy’s role in the project

Nature of works

The bridge over the Danube River between the city of Ruse (Republic of Bulgaria) and the city of Giurgiu (Republic of Romania) is part of the route of the existing Class I Highway I-2 from Ruse to Varna and part of European Route E-70 Bucharest–Ruse–Varna. The structure was built according to a Soviet design and was put into service in 1954. The bridge’s structure is a combination of reinforced concrete and steel, with three distinct sections. 

Technical characteristics

• From pier 19 to pier 21, the structure is a two-level truss—with the upper level for vehicular traffic and the lower level of the steel structure for the railroad track. This section of the bridge has a total length of 322 meters—two spans, each 161.00 meters long.  

• From pier 21 to pier 25, the structure is a single-level truss design, with the railroad tracks on the lower level and the roadway on top of the truss structure. This section of the bridge has a total length of 322 meters—comprising four spans, each 80.50 m long. 

• From pier 25 to pier 37, the structure is of the “viaduct” type, with the road alignment in this section of the bridge running above the railroad line in terms of both location and elevation. This section of the bridge has a total length of 412.80 m—12 spans, each 34.40 m long.  

The bridge over the Danube River is of great international transport and logistical importance. It is part of European Transport Corridor No. 9, which connects Northern Europe and the Baltic States with the Balkan Peninsula, Greece, and Turkey. Connection to Corridor No. 7 (Danube River): The city of Ruse functions as a major intermodal hub, combining river, road, and rail transport. 

The facility experiences high volumes of road traffic, a large portion of which consists of heavy-duty trucks. A massive volume of trade between Bulgaria and Romania passes through the facility, as well as transit traffic from the Middle East to Central and Western Europe. 

The full accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area and the changes to land borders have transformed logistics in the region. The elimination of rigorous border checks has increased traffic, making the bridge a critically important infrastructure hub. 

In recent years, road maintenance activities have been carried out as part of ongoing repairs. 

The total length of the section owned by the Bulgarian government is 1,057 m. 

Repair work on the road structure includes the complete replacement of the reinforced concrete panels that make up the existing road surface. The plan calls for welding bolt anchors to the upper flange of the steel beams through openings left in the panel elements in order to achieve a combined interaction between the steel longitudinal beams and the reinforced concrete panel elements. Given the need to carry out the repair work without interrupting traffic, the work was performed on one lane at a time.  

Modern protective waterproofing layers were installed along the entire length of the road surface to prevent future leaks and corrosion. During the repair, a new two-layer asphalt concrete pavement was laid. 

The original pedestrian railing was restored, along with the renovation of the posts and lighting fixtures. 

The existing guardrails were completely replaced with new H4b-B-W3 3N DS restraint systems. Additionally, two new double terminals were installed on both sides of the road, with a P2 performance class, at the end of the repaired section, at km 1+057.69. New horizontal road markings and vertical signage have been installed. 

The project includes the replacement of the anti-corrosion protective coating on the steel structure of the facility, as well as repairs to the supports.