Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania Sorin Grindeanu
On the same day, a festival will be held in Ungheni to recall the emotional moments of 35 years ago, when, in 1990, people from the Romanian and Moldovan banks threw flowers into the river. In memory of those historical events, the bridge is symbolically called “Bridge of Flowers”.
The road bridge to Ungheni will be a complex construction of two side-by-side parallel bridges, both 261.2 meters long. In the first phase, the bridge will be 13 meters wide, while in the second phase it will be 11.25 meters wide. Both will have four lanes (two in each direction), plus sidewalks for pedestrians.
Ungheni has a railroad bridge that connects Moldova and Romania, but there is no road bridge, and the need for one is obvious to everyone.
The agreement between Romania and Moldova on the location of the new highway bridge was reached back in 2012. It will be located north of the town of Ungheni, near the Moldovan village of Zagarancea and the Romanian village of Golaesti. Romania recently issued the necessary authorization to start the works.
On the Romanian territory, the bridge complex in Ungheni becomes a continuation of the A8 highway Târgu-Mureş-Iaşi-Ungheni, which is called Autostrada Unirii (“Unification Highway”). On the Moldovan side, the bridge will be part of the national highway R1 Ungheni-Chisinau.
Romanian Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Sorin Grindeanu said: “On Saturday, April 26, we will go to Ungheni, where the construction of the bridge complex will start. The moment is historic, as it will be the first new highway bridge built in the last 60 years. The bridge in Ungheni is located on the future A8 highway, which will connect Chisinau with Iasi and further cross the Carpathians. The bridge should be completed in 18 months, in the second half of next year”.
The minister also emphasized that there will be a total of five new bridges across the Prut. Four are currently at the design stage:
– Costesti (Moldova) – Stinca (Romania);
– Leova (Moldova) – Bumbeta (Romania);
– Leca (Moldova) – Falciu (Romania);
– Barboeni (Moldova) – Raduceni (Romania).
A new highway “Bridge of Colors” to Ungheni over the Prut River will be built by the Romanian authorities with financial support from the European Union. In September 2024, the Romanian National Company for Road Infrastructure Management (CNAIR) and the contractor selected after a tender, the Romanian company Ness Proiect Europe, signed the relevant contract.
The main part of the project is allocated from the Connecting Europe Facility CEF (“Connecting Europe”, an EU program in the field of transport, energy and digital services). About 151 million Romanian lei (more than 30 million euros) is being provided to the contractor.
For its part, Ness Proiect Europe has pledged to complete the work within 24 months, of which 6 months are allocated for design and 18 months for construction.
