The last steel plate of the road deck of Budapest’s Chain Bridge has been installed as part of a major €51.1 million restoration project.
Earlier this year, contractor A-Hid trumped won a bid to become the main contractor for the work on the 380m-long, 14.8m-wide suspension Széchenyi Chain Bridge that connects Buda and Pest across the Danube River. Work on the iconic bridge in the Hungarian capital began in March and traffic has been redirected away from the bridge since June.
The bridge is named after István Széchenyi, a major supporter of its construction between 1839 and 1849. When opened, it was the first permanent bridge over the Danube River to connect both towns and had a centre span of 202m making was one of the longest in the world.
The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is one of only two surviving bridges designed by English engineer William Tierney Clark. The other is a suspension bridge in England over the River Thames at the town of Marlow, up-river from London.
