| Eiffel Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 47°11′59.6″N 27°47′13.5″E / 47.199889°N 27.787083°E / 47.199889; 27.787083 |
| Crosses | Prut |
| Locale | between Ungheni and Ungheni, Iași |
| Preceded by | A bridge built in 1874 |
| History | |
| Designer | Gustave Eiffel |
| Opened | 21 April [O.S. 9 April] 1877 |
| Location | |
The Eiffel Bridge (Romanian: Podul Eiffel) is a bridge over the River Prut and a checkpoint between Moldova and Romania. The bridge is located between Ungheni, Moldova and Ungheni, Romania.
History
On 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1872 a Russian diplomatic agent, Ivan Alekseevich Zinov'ev, and Gheorghe Costaforu signed a rail junction convention, which was ratified on 21 January [O.S. 9 January] 1873. and the Iași-Ungheni railway was opened on 1 August 1874. The railway Chișinău-Cornești-Ungheni (built 1871–1875) was opened on 1 June 1875 by the Russian Empire in preparation for the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). Ungheni customs were established in 1875 after putting into operation the Chișinău-Ungheni-Iași railroad. The railway Chișinău-Cornești was already opened in 1873.
The first metal bridge was built according to the design of the Russian engineer Nikolai Belelubsky between 1874-1876. The first Russian troops crossed the bridge in 1877. Due to a testing process that lasted another 5 years, the bridge did not come into civilian use until 1881. It was blown up by retreating Russian troops on 22 June 1941 and rebuilt for the needs of German-Romanian troops. Bombed in 1944, it was rebuilt by the Russians between 1944 and 1946.
Today, the bridge remains a strategically positioned construction under the supervision of border guards.
Gallery
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The bridge in 2024
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Aerial view of the Eiffel Bridge
See also
Notes
- Frederick Kellogg, The Road to Romanian Independence, 1995, p. 84
- Vasile Iucal, "Destrămarea mitului: construcția podului feroviar peste râul Prut, la Ungheni" (PDF), Tyragetia (Serie Nouă), vol. XIII , /2019, No. 2, p. 172, retrieved 2024-01-01
External links
- Customs Service of the Republic of Moldova
- (in Romanian) Caile Ferate Moldovene, la rascruce de drumuri