A contract for the construction of a new bridge over the Prut River, which flows between Romania and Moldova, has been signed between the two countries.
The bridge will have four lanes of traffic and will be a part of the A8 Union Highway (Iași – Târgu Mureș) which is part of the Trans-European Transport Network.
The signing of the contract took place at the Regional Forum for Transformation and Integration (FRATI – a reference to Romania’s brotherhood with Moldova), which brought together central and local public authorities and entrepreneurs from Romania and Moldova.
The signing of this contract has been described as a “historic moment” because the reconstruction of bridges over the Prut symbolizes the reconnection between Romania and the Republic of Moldova. In the interwar period, there were 27 bridges between the two banks of the Prut, but they were destroyed during World War II and the Soviet regime, Moldova Invest has pointed out.
“Today we witnessed a moment that Ungheni and also the entire Republic of Moldova has been waiting for since the Flower Bridge of the 1990s. If our parents’ generation, 34 years ago, built a bridge of flowers, we will be the generation that builds bridges to ease our connection between the two banks of the Prut”, boasted Moldovan MP Igor Grosu.
He suggested that the bridge reinforces Moldova’s potential place in the European Union.
The bridge is to be made by 2026. It has a double purpose: of connecting Moldova to the EU’s motorway network and of connecting Ungheni (the Romanian portion of Ungheni and Moldovan portion of Ungheni) to Chișinău.
The works for building the bridge will be carried out by a Romanian company (the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration from Romania) and Ness Proiect Europe Ltd company, financed with European funds.
Last July, the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration from Romania (CNAIR) selected the firm which will construct the bridge across the Prut river in Ungheni. According to CNAIR, the financing of the construction will be provided from non-refundable European funds through the Connecting Europe Facility.
The new bridge across the Prut river will be endowed with border control points, car parks and areas of verification for trucks. The road bridge in Ungheni will be 261.20 meters long and will be built in two stages. In the first stage, the bridge will be 13 meters wide, and in the second stage, it will be extended to 11.25 meters. The bridge will include two lanes of traffic in each direction, as well as sidewalks for pedestrians. The route associated with the bridge will be approximately 1 kilometer long.
The 24-month project holds a value of 33 million euros.
What’s more, officials have expressed a desire for a highway from Romanian capital Bucharest to Moldovan capital Chișinău by 2030.
