On July 6, at 1:00 p.m., the official opening of the bridge over the Danube in Breil, the most difficult and expensive road work carried out by Romania in recent decades, will take place. The almost 2km long suspension bridge, the third longest suspension bridge in the EU, has been compared to the much more famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, but its grand opening was late and only part of the connecting roads were ready when traffic opens

The Braille Bridge officially opens on July 6

State Secretary for Transport Irinel Ionel Skriostianu visited Braila Bridge and announced that traffic will be officially opened on July 6 at 1:00 p.m.

“In the first stage, road traffic will be opened on a partial connection, with unloading in Tulcea county on the road to Măcin (stage I), and then as an option to Jijila and the first km. in Braila area (stage II) should be completed as soon as possible,” says Skriostianu.

At the same time, after the initial opening to traffic, traffic on the bridge will be restricted at night for some time to allow for the dismantling of the cranes.

Breil Bridge – “Golden Gate” across the Danube

The total length of the suspension bridge over the Danube is 1,974.30 meters, and the central opening is 1,120 meters.

comparative, the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has a length of 1,970 meters and a central span of 1,280 meters.

The Braila Bridge mainly has three spans: the main span (1120 m) and two side spans of 489.65 m on the Braila bank and 364.65 m on the Tulcea bank. On one side and on the other side there are two approach viaducts, each 110 m long.

“At the time of completion, it will be the third bridge in Europe in terms of central span and length,” Avtodorig said at the start of the project.

More precisely, it is the peak of the suspension bridges in the current EU – the Braille Bridge will be in third place after the main opening, after the Great Belt Bridge – Denmark (1624 meters) and the Hoga Kusten Bridge – Sweden (1210 meters).

The two towers of the bridge reach a height of 192 meters and are practically the tallest buildings in Romania (except for chimneys and antennas).

The total length of roads (including the bridge) is 23,413 km and consists of two sections: the main Braila – Jijila road with a length of 19,095 km and connecting road with DN22 Smârdan – Măcin with a length of 4328 km.

• The main road Braila – Jijila. It has a length of 19.095 km and will be equipped with two lanes of traffic in each direction up to 8 kilometers, and then one lane of traffic in each direction until the end of the project – 19 km. The road will also have shoulder lanes, approaches, a median zone and a parapet zone.

• Connecting road with DN22 Smârdan – Măcin (which opens on July 6). This road with a length of 4.328 km will be equipped with one traffic lane in each direction. The connecting road will start from km 7+940 of the main road (Brăila-Jijila) and intersect with DN22 Smârdan-Măcin.

Braila Bridge: Steel Wires Enough to Circle the Planet Twice and Metal Deck Built in Romania

About 81,000 kilometers of steel wire were used to build the bridge, enough to circle the earth twice. These thin steel wires were woven into 16 strands that form two main cables, each two kilometers long.

The total weight of the two cables is more than 6,700 tons, and the Japanese cable manufacturer’s warranty is 120 years.

Each cable has a diameter of 60 centimeters and is fixed to anchor blocks on each bank.

The metal segments of the deck are attached to the two main cables with several hundred ties.

Each segment of the metal deck has an average weight of 250 tonnes and was manufactured at the Fincantieri shipyards in Braila from Liberty Steel in Galata. In total, the metal deck consists of 86 segments with a total weight of more than 20,800 tons.

Bridge across the Danube from Braila – contract dates:

Length: Bridge + road Brăila – Jijila (19 km), connecting road DN22 Smârdan Măcin (4.3 km)

Value: 1.99 billion lei (without VAT)

Builder: We Build (formerly Astaldi – Italy) – IHI Infrastructure System (Japan)

Signed contract: 15.01.2018 (terms: 12 months of design and 36 months of implementation)

Work started: December 2018 (permits for the construction of connecting roads were received only in March/May 2021)

Physical stage – the entire project (June 2023): bridges – 95% / roads – 78%

Click on the plans to open them in a larger size in a separate window: