On June 20, 1954, the Chairman of the Bulgarian Council of Ministers Valko Chervenkov and his Romanian counterpart Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej officially unveiled the newly-built Friendship Bridge connecting the two neighboring countries. One week later, the first cargo train crossed the Danube Bridge carrying tractors on 40 wagons. The facility was built in 2 years and 3 months by 7,000 Romanians and 4,700 Bulgarians.
The bridge is 2.8 kilometers long and rises some 30 meters above the water surface. It was constructed at two levels- for railway and road transport. Its central part is mobile and can be lifted for passage of oversized vessels. Decorations were designed by Bulgarian architect Georgi Ovcharov and Ukraine’s sculptor Mykhailo Parashchuk who was active in Bulgaria from 1921 to his death.
You can read more about the construction of the bridge made under codename Site 889 in the publication- “1954: The Unveiling of Danube Bridge”.
Compiled by: Diana Tsankova
English version: Kostadin Atanasov
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