site.btaRomania's 'Golden Gate Bridge' Completely Re-paved One Year after Opening

A year after its opening, Romania's 'Golden Gate bridge' is experiencing problems once again. This is the suspension bridge over the Danube at the city of Braila, known as the "Golden Gate of Romania", which has once again found itself in need of repair.

Until 26 August, traffic on part of the bridge is restricted to just one lane in each direction. A new layer of asphalt had to be laid as the road had become uneven from the heat. It was also found that some bolts were not properly tightened, water leaks into the anchor blocks appeared.

According to officials of the Romanian National Company for Highway and National Road Administration (CNAIR), the entire bridge has to be re-paved and waterproofed to prevent such problems from recurring. All work will be done at the builder's expense as the facility is under a ten-year warranty.

For the same reasons, there were repairs in June and July.

The suspension bridge over the Danube was opened on July 6 last year. Shortly after, bumps appeared on the asphalt on the sections for getting on and off the bridge, and authorities blamed truck drivers who did not respect the summer tonnage limit of 7.5 tonnes. In late August last year, all 100,000 bolts in the bridge's structure were checked and 401 were found to be loose.

Romaina's 'Golden Gate' is the largest bridge ever built in the country, the third largest in Europe and the last over the Danube before it flows into the Black Sea. It connects the Black Sea and Danube Delta ports to the rest of the country and to the wider trans-European transport network. The suspension structure is nearly 2 kilometres long, stands 38 metres above the water and has four lanes. The total cost of the project is about EUR 500 million.