Cernavodă Bridge, Truss bridge in Cernavodă, Romania.
The Cernavodă Bridge is a combined road and rail truss bridge over the Danube, carrying the A2 motorway and the double-track CFR Line 800. Its main span over the river consists of three continuous truss openings of 140, 190 and 140 metres, with the two roadways flanking the railway. The complex includes 18 approach viaducts, 17 on the left bank and one on the right, founded on 1.08-metre bored piles and piers up to 25 metres high.
The structure was planned in the 1980s and completed in 1987 as part of Romania's goal to improve transportation links between different parts of the country. Building it was a major engineering achievement for the nation at that time.
The bridge carries the A2 motorway and CFR Line 800, the railway linking Bucharest with the Black Sea ports of Constanța and Mangalia. Its western abutment stands on Balta Ialomiței, a Danube island. Drivers pay a toll based on vehicle type, while trains cross on tracks laid between the two motorway carriageways.
The bridge carries the A2 motorway and CFR Line 800, so it is crossed by vehicle, not on foot; drivers pay a toll based on vehicle type. The western abutment stands on the Balta Ialomiței river island, and the structure sits near Danube kilometre 300, just upstream of the old Carol I railway bridge. The 17 access spans on the left bank range from 58.62 m to 71.80 m.
The bridge's piers are protected by Măcin granite, the hardest stone in Romania, set into the structure against river water, ice floes and erosion. Before opening, it was load-tested for a week with 38 diesel locomotives and 38 dump trucks each carrying over 50 tonnes.
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