The Brăila bridge over the Danube, one of the largest suspension bridges in Europe and Romania‘s biggest infrastructure investment of the last 30 years, was officially inaugurated on Thursday, according to Romania-Insider.
Several state officials attended the ceremony, including President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Senate Head Nicolae Ciucă, and Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu.
The bridge, nicknamed Romania’s Golden Gate, has a total length of 2 km long, 38 meters above the water with four lanes. It connects the Black Sea ports and the Danube Delta with the rest of the country and with the wider Trans-European Transport Network.
Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, who represented the Commission at the inauguration ceremony, stated: “Brăila Bridge, one of Europe’s largest and technically most sophisticated bridges, is a successful project for Romania and the EU. This new transport connection will lead to the economic development of the neighbouring communities and will positively impact Dobrogea and Moldova regions,” according to a press release.
“The bridge has special importance in the current geopolitical context. A larger infrastructure capacity in the Danubian area is vital for improving EU security and ensuring the transportation of goods transiting Romania from and to Ukraine and Moldova,” added Vălean.
The project will also contribute to the building of 23.4 km of transport infrastructure such as roads, bridges, junctions, level crossings and overpasses to serve the needs of people in the Moldova and Dobrogea regions.
“The EU’s contribution to this project amounts to €363 million from Cohesion Policy funds…The bridge and parts of the access roads are operational as of today (6 July), while the construction of the remaining access roads is expected to be finalized by the end of 2023,” stated the EU Commission.
During the 2014-2020 programming period, Romania received a total over €24 billion under EU Cohesion Policy, a substantial part of which (€5.6 billion) was dedicated to improving the network of infrastructures in transport and energy.
In the current 2021-2027 period, Romania will receive €31 billion from Cohesion Policy funds, including €4.6 billion for road, rail and water transport infrastructure.