Romania’s minister of transport, Sorin Grindeanu, has announced that work is now underway on a new road bridge over the Siret River, near Cosmeşti.
In March last year, the government announced that the winner of the two-year design-build contract was the Italian firm Cosedil at a cost of around €29.62 million, with some funds coming from the European Union. The contract includes 5.6km of new road with a speed limit of 80kph to connect the bridge to the highway network.
The existing Cosmeşti Bridge, which carries the DN24 highway and opened in 1924, is a combined road and rail bridge with the road running under the rail section. The contract for the new road bridge includes repair work on the existing bridge.
After the new bridge is opened, the road section of the existing bridge will be decommissioned and only the rail line will remain operational. Cosmeşti is around 60km from the capital Bucharest.
Last December, Grindeanu said the Brăila suspension bridge over the Danube River must be open by the end of 2022. Construction started in 2019 on the 2km-long bridge connecting the counties of Brăila and Tulcea will rise around 200m over the river when complete. The four lane structure, with two combined bicycle path/pedestrian walkways, will be the first bridge over the maritime Danube sector and the fourth bridge over the Romanian section of the river.
