Danube Bridge
Bridge connecting Romania and Bulgaria
title: "Danube Bridge" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["truss-bridges", "bridges-in-bulgaria", "bridges-in-romania", "bridges-over-the-danube", "bridges-completed-in-1954", "buildings-and-structures-in-ruse,-bulgaria", "giurgiu", "international-bridges", "bulgaria–romania-border-crossings", "railway-bridges-in-bulgaria", "railway-bridges-in-romania", "road-rail-bridges", "steel-bridges", "buildings-and-structures-in-giurgiu-county", "bulgaria–soviet-union-relations", "romania–soviet-union-relations", "toll-bridges", "bulgaria–romania-relations", "soviet-foreign-aid", "european-route-e85", "double-decker-bridges", "1954-establishments-in-bulgaria", "1954-establishments-in-romania"] description: "Bridge connecting Romania and Bulgaria" topic_path: "general/truss-bridges" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube_Bridge" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Bridge connecting Romania and Bulgaria ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox bridge"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| bridge_name | Giurgiu–Ruse Bridge |
| image | Danube Bridge border crossing.JPG |
| other_name | Friendship Bridge |
| carries | Two lanes of road and railway traffic, pedestrians |
| crosses | Danube |
| location | Between Giurgiu, Romania and Ruse, Bulgaria, at river kilometre 488.70 |
| designer | V. Andreev |
| N. Rudomazin | |
| Georgi Ovcharov (decoration) | |
| design | Truss bridge |
| length | 2223 m |
| below | 30 m |
| begin | 1952 |
| open | 20 June 1954 |
| coordinates | |
| :: |
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The Danube Bridge (also known as the Friendship Bridge; , Most na druzhbata or, more commonly, Дунав мост, Dunav most; or Podul de la Giurgiu) is a steel truss bridge over the Danube River connecting the Bulgarian bank to the south with the Romanian bank to the north and the cities of Ruse and Giurgiu respectively. It is one of only two bridges connecting Romania and Bulgaria, the other one being the New Europe Bridge between the cities of Vidin and Calafat.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Romania_Postage_Stamp_-_Friendship.jpg" caption="The projected bridge on a 1948 stamp"] ::
Opened on 20 June 1954 and designed by Soviet engineers V. Andreev and N. Rudomazin, the bridge is 2223.52 m long and was, at the time, the only bridge over the Danube shared by Bulgaria and Romania, with other traffic being served by ferries and land routes. Decorations were designed by Bulgarian architect Georgi Ovcharov. The bridge has two decks; a two lane motorway and a railway. Sidewalks for pedestrians are also included. The central part of the bridge (85 m) is mobile and can be lifted for oversized boats passage. The maintenance of the mobile part is Romania's responsibility and is periodically checked. The bridge was constructed in two and a half years with the aid of the Soviet Union.
The Soviets named it the "Friendship Bridge", but, since the fall of the communist regimes in both countries, the bridge got the more functional name of "Danube Bridge".{{cite book |last1=Bousfield |first1=Jonathan |first2=Dan |last2=Richardson |title= Rough guide to Bulgaria |edition=4 |year=2002 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=1-85828-882-7 |page=203 |last1=Watkins |first1=Richard |first2=Christopher |last2=Deliso |title=Bulgaria |edition=3 |year=2008 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |isbn=978-1-74104-474-4 |page=271 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bulgaria00watk
Border control stations are present on the bridge, due to its serving as a border crossing between the two countries. Since January 2007 there is no more customs control and the passport/identity card control is done "on one desk" either by the Bulgarian or the Romanian border police, being an "internal border" within the European Union.
Both Romania and Bulgaria became a part of the Schengen area on 1 January, 2025, therefore border control is expected to cease operations on 30 June 2025.
On 3 September 2011 the Bulgarian part of the bridge was opened, after two months of rehabilitation.
There are a pair of rectangular towers supported by pillars on both ends.
Tolls
The following tolls apply for crossing the Danube Bridge:
::data[format=table]
| Vehicle | Euro |
|---|---|
| Up to 8+1 seats; Up to 3.5 t | 6 euro |
| Trucks up to 7.5 t; Vehicles between 9 and 23 seats | 12 euro |
| Trucks up to 12 t | 18 euro |
| Trucks over 12 t with up to 3 axles; Vehicles with over 23 seats | 25 euro |
| Trucks over 12 t with 4 or more axles | 37 euro |
| :: |
Gallery
File:Pont_de_l%27amiti%C3%A9_Rouss%C3%A9-Giurgiu.jpg|Romanian side of the bridge in winter File:Danube_Bridge_from_the_train.jpg|Middle of the bridge seen from the Bosphorus Express train (Bucharest–Istanbul) in winter Freundschaftsbruecke Portal.jpg|The colonnade portal
References
References
- [http://valahia.jurnalgiurgiuvean.ro/category/istorie/istorie-locala/ The history of "The Danube" bridge] {{webarchive. link. (2011-09-01 {{in lang). ro
- (2009). "Лужнецкий мост, г. Москва". sprintinfo.ru.
- "Въвеждат временен граничен контрол на вътрешната българо-румънска граница".
- "Bulgaria Joins Schengen for Land Travel: Border Controls Adjusted with Greece and Romania - Novinite.com - Sofia News Agency".
- "Bridge Tolls, 2018 - UNTRR".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::