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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 93.125.187.75 (talk) at 23:19, 2 June 2013 (→‎Connecting road network: moved remark on E79 up to the beginning, to put the emphasis back on the different geopolitical objectives of Bulgaria and Romania, which are discussed immediately after this chapter). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Vidin–Calafat Bridge
Coordinates44°00′08″N 22°56′54″E / 44.0021554°N 22.9482770°E / 44.0021554; 22.9482770
CarriesFour lanes of roadway, one railway track, two walkways[1]
CrossesDanube
LocaleBetween Calafat, Romania and Vidin, Bulgaria, at river kilometer 796[1]
Characteristics
DesignCable-stayed bridge
Total length1,971 m (6,467 ft)
History
DesignerFernández Casado
Opened14th of June 2013 (planned)
Location
Map

The Vidin–Calafat Bridge (also known as Danube Bridge 2; Bulgarian: Мост Видин–Калафат, Most Vidin–Kalafat or Дунав мост 2, Dunav most 2; Romanian: Podul Calafat–Vidin) is a road and rail bridge between the cities of Calafat, Romania and Vidin, Bulgaria. It will be the second bridge on the shared section of the Danube between Romania and Bulgaria. This cable-stayed bridge is to be built by the Spanish company Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, and the cost is projected to be € 226 million.

History and geography

A bridge between Calafat (in Romania) and Vidin (in Bulgaria) had been discussed 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.[2] 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.[3]

A ferry shuttle service between Vidin and Calafat runs night and day, but only when it is fully loaded with trucks. This can make for a long wait at night. Dry summers come with low water levels in the Danube river, which can cause the ferry to get stuck at the loading ramp, making waiting times even longer.[4] Another factor that can make ferry traffic impossible or difficult are very cold winters when the Danube river sometimes freezes completely.[5][6]

The route from Bulgaria towards Central and Western Europe, avoiding the ferry boat and without traveling through Serbia, which is outside the European Union border, requires a long detour towards the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge. This bridge is located 307 kilometres (191 mi) downstream and it is the the only other bridge across the Danube border that Bulgaria shares with Romania. [7] This detour to Ruse often takes longer than waiting for a ferry in Vidin or Oryahovo, however, both ways of crossing the border can take a long time. Traveling through Serbia is usually faster, but crossing outside the borders of the European Union can be a hassle with customs, especially during the summer season, when lots of immigrants travel back to their families. The Danube Bridge 2 will make traveling in and out of Bulgaria through Vidin much easier than it is today by ferry boat.

The Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge was built with help from the Soviet Union and opened in 1954 as the Friendship Bridge (Мост на дружбата, Most na druzhbata). 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. Kilometer markers are set up along the river and counting starts at the Black Sea.

Although Bulgaria is south of Romania, crossing the Danube Bridge 2 from Vidin towards Calafat is made 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.

Controversy about the location

Starting from 1993, there has been 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, 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 countries agreed with this.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

Financing sources

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.[11][12] Thanks to the lobby of Bodo Hombach, the European Investment Bank granted the project a credit loan of € 50 million in December 2000.[2] 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.[13][14]

In 2012, the cost of building the Danube Bridge 2 and its adjoining infrastructures raised to the sum of €226 million.[15]

Construction progress

Construction of the Vidin–Calafat bridge as seen in 2010 on the Bulgarian river bank. View towards the small island in the Bulgarian non-navigable part of the Danube river. The ferry boat terminal is about 4km down the river from the future bridge.
External images
image icon Panoramic view of the bridge under construction (14 October 2012)
image icon Adjoining infrastructure on the Romanian side (A location map of the images is placed down below on the same page)

Construction officially began on 13 May 2007 in Vidin in the presence of Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev and Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Erhard Busek.[16][17] 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.[18][19]

Delay before and during construction

The Bulgarian Ministry of Transport delayed the start of the construction at least three times before the inaugural ceremony.[20] Soon after the official ceremony, trouble started. Vidin municipality had split up land that was needed for the bridge into smaller parcels.[21] Since these parcels were sold out to different people, the Bulgarian minister of transport had to wait for a law that made it possible to expropriate the new landowners.[22] These procedures slowed down the real start of the building process to a great extend.

Between 2007 and 2009 not much progress had been achieved.[23][24] Taking a closer look on the Bulgarian side, one could notice some preparation of the track leading towards the future bridge, with a small office being built. Meanwhile the Danube riverbank was being prepared for the construction of a concrete factory. Trees on the small island on the Bulgarian side of the Danube however took a long time to be cut off.

In 2009, it became clear that the building of the second Danube Bridge could not be finished by the end of 2010, since it had not yet really begun. Due to the overpassing of the original deadline, Bulgaria almost lost the financing of the whole project,[25] but they were granted more time to finish the bridge by the end of 2012,.[26]

Construction becoming visible

Visible construction actually started in 2009, on the Bulgarian bank of the Danube river. During the first year of rapidly building the concrete factory, FCC Construccion was preparing the segments for the bridge. The idea was to have these segments ready long before they were needed, so that the assembly of the superstructure of the bridge could not be delayed because of possible quality problems with the concrete.

The Danube Bridge 2 consists of eight pillars that are in the non-navigable channel of Danube river, crossing from the low lying Bulgarian bank over the small island, followed by its four main pillars, numbered PB9, PB10, PB11 and PB12. The design was to have 13 pairs of stay cables attached to every main pillar in the navigable channel of the Danube river.

By June 2010, only the bridge crossing over the small island had been built. The foundation of the pillars in the navigable channel of the river were built during the same year. The main pillars became clearly visible throughout 2011.

In February 2012, the Bulgarian Minister of European Union Funds Management Tomislav Donchev said that he expected the bridge to be finished by the end of 2012.[27] Throughout the year 2012 the bridge got into shape. Starting at PB9, the bridge deck was extended segment by segment and soon the first stay cables could be seen.

By April 2012, the bridge deck of PB 9 and PB10 was lacking only one segment in between. After the gap was closed, one could walk half way across the river. PB10 and PB11 soon followed during the summer. Despite the low water levels in the Danube river construction continued swiftly, working on the abutment A3, on the Romanian river bank.

On 1 October 2012, the gap between the bridge deck at PB12 and the abutment A3 on the Romanian river bank was closed. On 3 October 2012, the remaining gap in the bridge was only 18 metres (59 ft).[28] Bulgarian radio reporters found out about a technical problem: the difference in the height of the bridge deck between two sides of the gap is 45 centimetres (18 in), so closing of the gap will not be possible until the height of both bridge decks will be adjusted.

Bridge deck ready, but finishing works still lasted 8 months

If the building process continues at the current speed, reportedly, one may expect the last gap, between pillars PB11 and PB12 to be closed in November 2012. It remains uncertain when vehicles will be able to cross the bridge, as the finishing works, such as paving the bridge deck and mounting safety barriers, will probably take several months.[29] On 24 October 2012, the two countries' Prime Ministers, joined by the European Union Regional Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn, met halfway on the bridge, after the two shores of the Danube were finally connected during the preceding week.[30] Also on the 24th of October 2012 the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said that he expected that the bridge would be opened in spring 2013.[31]

Bridge Calafat - Vidin, as seen in March 2013, from Calafat, on the Romanian bank of the Danube, as finishing works were still under way. Forecasts about the bridge's opening to traffic had long been set for May 2013, but the inauguration of the bridge is now set for the 14th of June 2013.

Another issue that had to be solved was the establishment of a management company that will operate the bridge and collect tolls. Pending issues were how and where that company would be registered, dispute resolution methods and what fiscal law it would be subject to.[32] In October 2012 it was expected that this company would be located in Sofia.[33]

The building of the Danube Bridge 2 saw a fatal victim in November 2012, when a Romanian worker had an accident and fell of the bridge. [34] His body was not found in the search that followed the accident. At the time of writing it remains unknown whether the body of this Romanian worker has been recovered from the Danube river, be it weeks later, further downstream.

In May 2013, FCC had their subcontrator Eptisa test the Danube Bridge 2 with heavily loaded trains and trucks. The total weight used for the tests added up to 1992 tonnes. [35] Should there ever evolve a long line of trucks waiting to enter Romania, their total maximum weight could add up to 4000 tonnes, assuming that every truck would be loaded to it's maximum of 40 tonnes. Often every truck driver would leave 5 metres between his truck and the truck in front of him and a typical truck is 15 metres long, so you can park one truck on every 20 metres of the bridge, which roughly counts up to 100 trucks if a waiting line would ever cover the whole bridge.

I am trying to stress the point that the tests were not set up to measure the bridge's behaviour under the maximum weight of trucks you can possibly park in a single waiting line accross the bridge. Anyone who can make better calculations should correct me if I'm wrong. It is unclear to me whether the maximum weight that evolved from the test applies only to the stay-cabled part of the bridge over the navigable channel of the Danube, in which case my calculations would be wrong, or if it includes the long bridge from pier 1 to 9 on the Bulgarian side of the Danube, like I fear.

Opening date finally set, but project remains unfinished

On the 22nd of May 2013 the Bulgarian president has announced that the opening ceremony of the Danube Bridge 2 is now set to take place on the 14th of June 2013 and the toll for passenger cars will be 6 Euros. [36] [37] Meanwhile the other Danube Bridge between Ruse and Giurgu is in desperate need of repair [38], as was shown in April 2013, when one pothole in the old bridge (1954) [39] caused hundreds of trucks to wait several days to cross the Danube river on a ferry boat.[40] The problems with the old bridge in Ruse showed once again how important the Danube Bridge 2 between Calafat and Vidin is for economy and transport in South East Europe.

Over the past months both Bulgaria and Romania have suffered from political crisis, followed by elections.[41] [42] This may have caused further delay to the project [43], but in the end the aforementioned issue of the establishment of a management company that will operate the bridge and collect tolls has been resolved. The company that manages the bridge is now based in Vidin [44] , the road tolls will be collected at the Romanian side of the bridge and each side gets a the part of the tolls that they have invested in the bridge, so about 80% of the toll money will go to Bulgaria. [45]

The opening of the bridge had long been hoped to take place in May 2013 [46] [47] , but 'technical problems' have caused further delay, as it was euphemistically expressed by politicians speaking to news media. It seems that these technical details consisted of setting up cabins for the border police that has to check the traffic between Bulgaria and Romania. Hoping that both countries would have been part of the Schengen agreement by the time the bridge would open, no border police cabins had been ordered untill the very last moment.

Hoping and supposing that no further delay will take place, the bridge would finally be open to traffic by the 15th of June 2013, connecting Vidin with Calafat and making the painstaking ferry crossing a memory of the past. Yet one could easily argue that the work remains by far unfinished, as the original aim was not to build a bridge that links just the two cities of Vidin (Bulgaria) and Calafat (Romania). No, the original plans were to make the Danube Bridge 2 a part of a motorway network (Corridor IV) that would provide Bulgaria with a new and fast access road towards the rest of Europe, whereas the finished bridge now lies over the Danube River like an oasis in the desert. The road from Bulgaria through Romania towards Hungaria remains a nightmare in terms of infrastructure, as one will see looking at the bridge's connecting road network.

All of this information can be checked on the Bulgarian SkyScraper City Forum, backed up by weblinks to serious news media, as demanded by Wikipedia, but from the Bulgarian press, so it's also in Bulgarian language and of little use for English-only-readers.

Connecting road network

Pan-European corridors

The Danube Bridge 2 is part of the Pan-European corridor IV. The bridge is also part of the European route E79, that runs from Miskolc (Hungary) to Thessaloniki (Greece), via the Romanian cities of Beiuş, Deva, Petroşani, Târgu Jiu and Craiova. [48]

According to the planned road network of European Corridor IV, the bridge was supposed to have access to the Bucharest – Craiova – Timişoara – Budapest motorway by 2017, allowing rapid transit from North-western Bulgaria, to South-western Romania, Eastern Hungary and the rest of Europe.[18][19] These original plans however lacked both political and financial support by the authorities on both sides of the Danube, because Bulgaria and Romania have always had different geopolitical objectives.

Bulgarian perspective

The national road from Sofia to Vidin (1/E79) is linked to the Hemus motorway (A2) up to the city of Botevgrad, and continues with a dual carriageway road to Vratsa. The road from Montana to Vidin is a rehabilitated[49] two-lane single carriageway road.

There is also another road from Sofia to Vidin (81), via Kostinbrod and through the Petrohan Pass to Montana. This road is shorter and very scenic, but it takes more time as it runs over the Balkan Mountains and through the villages.

Plans for a new motorway from Sofia to Vidin exist, but currently Bulgaria's priority is to finish the already started motorway projects, such as the Trakia, Hemus, Maritsa, Lyulin and the Struma motorways, as well as a new planned motorway from Sofia towards Kalotina, at the Serbian border.[50][51]

Romanian perspective

In Romania, the bridge provides access to national roads connecting with Craiova and Drobeta-Turnu Severin.[52] These are not among the busiest roads in the country, according to a recent study.[53]

The DN56 road from Calafat to Craiova, considered to be in a poor condition, is currently under rehabilitation works[54] and runs through most of the settlements on the route. The DN56A road from Calafat to Drobeta-Turnu Severin has recently been rehabilitated,[55] and is rated by the SkyscraperCity members as "excellent",[56] but it also runs through every village. Further from Drobeta-Turnu Severin, the DN6 road to Lugoj, has also recently been under rehabilitation works and bypasses all the major settlements on the route.[57] A link road from Lugoj to the currently under construction A1 motorway is planned as well.[58]

A new planned South Motorway, currently in the pre-feasibility phase, includes a connection to the bridge in one of its considered routes,[59] and a new planned European transit route named Via Carpathia, connecting Lithuania to Greece, was recently discussed in the European Parliament and includes the Calafat–Vidin bridge on its route.[60]

Not before 2020

Experts do not believe that a motorway from Sofia to Timișoara will be built anytime soon,not even in 2020, as there is a lack of political will and money to build such roads. Template:Citation in English still needed A Serbian Newspaper described the Romanian region of Craiova as left to look after itself and outside the focus of the Romanian government. [61] Indeed Romania focusses on other highways to be built, long before meeting the Bulgarian need for completing Corridor 4 as a motorway. Information on motorway projects from official sources, like a ministery of transport, can be found on the internet, but mostly in Bulgarian and/or Romanian language.

With Serbia on its way to become a member to the European Union, Bulgarians may think it less necesary to drive their passenger cars through Romania on the long run. The road through Serbia towards Hungaria being a motorway for most parts, it is considered to be faster and safer than the road through Romania, although the Serbian motorway tolls are paid per kilometre and also often seen as expensive, compared to the vignette system in surrounding countries. Serbian statistics showed a sharp decrease in transit traffic through Serbia, right after Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union in 2007, followed by a gradual increase, but traffic numbers have not yet fully recovered to their old levels. [62]

It takes truck drivers about 85 minutes to finish customs procedures at the Serbian border, but waiting times can go over 5 hours, if the customs office decides to get other inspections involved. [63] These circumstances make it a far bigger hassle for truck drivers to transit through Serbia, than it is to drive trough Romania, even if roads in Serbia are better and more often motorways. Serbian newspapers reported worries in Serbia that the Danube Bridge 2 will make Serbia loose truck transit traffic, especially from Turkish trucks, leading to a decrease in income from diesel taxes and motorway tolls.

Serbian Newspapers also reported that, although Romanian roads are in bad shape and the road is 100 km longer, transport companies have calculated that transiting through Romania is 100 to 200 Euros cheaper than transiting through Serbia. [64] Traffic on the Danube Bridge 2 is expected to grow, mainly because of growing numbers of trucks in transit.Template:Citation in English still needed The ferryboat companies have already reported growing numbers of trucks,[citation needed] and companies anticipating the opening of Danube Bridge 2 start to open branches in Vidin. The latest news is that Mercedes will start to pruduce car parts in Vidin. .Template:Citation in English needed [65][66][67]

Number of vehicles per day

Bulgarian Minister of Transport Ivaylo Moskovski said at an inspection tour of the bridge that he expected traffic across the bridge to exceed 100,000 vehicles in the first year,[68] although initially estimates suggested a volume of 3,000 vehicles per day,[69] which is closer to the one of the Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge.[70]

All the serious news media, in which Wikipedia strongly believes, kept citing the probably wrong number of 100,000 vehicles per year that Ivaylo Moskoski had talked about. The problem with these numbers is that very few people actually calculate that 100,000 vehicles per year breaks down into 274 vehicles per day, which is by far not the number of vehicles one would expect on any important major European road, as even village roads usually have more traffic. Road geeks immediately noticed this number of vehicles had to be an error, but Wikipedia classified their information on a forum as not trustworthy enough and chose to believe in the majority of Bulgarian journalists, like the ones from Novinite/Sofia News Agency, who seem to be not serious enough to calculate and think about the often cited 100,000 vehicles per year!

However, due to the high ferryboat taxes (car EUR 26,--), the transit trafic between Calafat and Vidin in early 2013 used to be not more than 10 trucks and 10 cars, per hour. This transit traffic may increase with the lower bridge toll of EUR 6,-- With only 274 vehicles per day, it would take Bulgaria about 300 years to pay back the credits to the European Union. The bridge between Ruse and Giurgiu being in tremendous need of repair, it is expected that about 3000 vehicles per day (most of them were crossing the Danube at Ruse until a whole in the bridge deck forced authorities to close the old bridge) would cross the Danube Bridge 2 in it's first year of operation. These 3000 vehicles per day counting up to 1,095,000 vehicles per year, Ivaylo Moskovski may have had a milion vehicles in mind, dropping a zero by accident, or he may have been given wrong information by his staff.

Gallery

Images with the construction status of the bridge are posted regularly on the official website of the project.

Additional images, captured by enthusiasts from the SkyscraperCity website, can be seen at this address.

See also

References

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  57. ^ "Roads". SkyscraperCity. 14 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  58. ^ "Constructia Autostrazii LUGOJ-DEVA, sectorul Lugoj - Dumbrava de la km 0+000 – km 27 +472 si Drumul de legatura in lungime de 11,4 km" (in Romanian). CNADNR. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
  59. ^ "Elaborare documentaţie faza de proiectare SPF pentru obiectivului de investiţii Autostrada Sudului" (in Romanian). CNADNR. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  60. ^ "Via Carpathia transit route discussed in the European Parliament". European Conservatives and Reformists Group. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
  61. ^ [ http://www.politika.rs/rubrike/Tema-nedelje/Tranzit-kroz-Srbiju/Most-kao-nezeljeno-dete.lt.html A bridge like an unwanted child, article from Serbian Newspaper Polikia Online, published 26th of May 2013, in Serbian language]
  62. ^ Foreign transporting companies drive around corridor 10, article from Serbian Newspaper Polikia Online, published 26th of May 2013, in Serbian language
  63. ^ Foreign transporting companies drive around corridor 10, article from Serbian Newspaper Polikia Online, published 26th of May 2013, in Serbian language
  64. ^ Through Bulgaria 200 Euro cheaper, article from Serbian Newspaper Polikia Online, published 26th of May 2013, in Serbian language
  65. ^ "Big Foreign Companies Interested in Vidin Free Zone PLC". Standart. 13 September 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  66. ^ "Project Vidin". BNS Real Estate. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  67. ^ "Chinese company invests 10 million euro in Boynitsa Municipality in Vidin Region". Vidin Government. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  68. ^ "Bulgaria: 2nd Bulgaria-Romania Danube Bridge to Be Ready by End 2012". Novinite.com. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  69. ^ "Un pod de construcţie spaniolă la Calafat-Vidin va relansa economia Europei de Est" (in Romanian). Financiarul. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  70. ^ "Разширяват 1,5 километра от пътя Бяла в посока Русе" (in Bulgarian). Dunavmost.bg. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2012.

Further reading

External links

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