Multi-Modal bridge on road and on railway between Romania and Bulgaria

 

Through the Emergency Ordinance no. 149 from September 28, 2000, of the Romanian Government was ratified the Agreement between the Romanian Government and the Government of Republic of Bulgaria regarding the technical, financial, juridical and organizational aspects referring to the building of a new multi-modal bridge (on road and on railway) at the frontier between the two countries over the Danube river, singed in Bucharest on June 5, 2000.

The objective is placed on the southern branch of the path of the pan- European transport Corridor no. IV, Berlin/Nurnberg Prague Budapest - /Thessaloniki/Istanbul, which railway component on the territory of Romania crosses the following section: Curtici Arad Craiova Calafat.

The main elements contained in the Agreement are the following:

- Romanian Government and the Government of Republic of Bulgaria, as contracting parties, have agreed to build a multi-modal bridge at the frontier between Romanian and Republic of Bulgaria at km 796 +/- 1 km at Danube river. A spare location is recommended at km 787 +/- 1 km at Danube River, if a project study will identify unexpected difficulties for the selected location;
- Transport infrastructure development that provides the links between the two countries has a special significance for the European integration, resuming the content of the common Minute of the meeting between the delegations of the Romanian government and Bulgarian one, that took place in the presence of the special coordinator of the Stability Pact for the South Eastern Europe, Mr. Bodo Hombach, and the European inspector, Mr. Gunter Verheugen, in Brussels, on February 7, 2000.
- The location selected for the new bridge over the Danube river, at Vidin Calafat, is based on the agreements within Experts Document (Brussels, February 23, 2000), elaborated by the experts groups of the Governments of Romanian and Republic of Bulgaria over the Danube river, on the section of the southern branch of the pan European transport Corridor no. IV, according to the Final Report related to the evaluation of the necessary staff in the field of transport infrastructure (TINA, in October 1999);
- Every stage of the technical project and the objective of the construction will be mutually agreed by the contracting parties, based on reciprocity;
- The technical project of the objective will be in accordance with the legislation and to the relevant standards of the European Union;
- In the elaboration process of the preliminary project it will be performed an evaluation of the impact on the environment (EIM), in accordance with the legislation in force in Romania and in Bulgaria, as well as with the directives of the European Union regarding the EIM;
- Contracting parties will adopt, no later that the date of putting in operation of the objective, measures meant to avoid the interruption along the access on road and railway infrastructure, each of them on their territory, on the path of the pan- European transport Corridor no. IV, as it was defined by the Final Report TINA;
- Contracting parties will establish a mixed commission, which includes their representatives, who will coordinate all railway activities related to the design and construction of the objective, based on the decisions made by them in this field. There will be possible to be invited in the mixed commission the representatives of the European Commission, of the Stability Pact of the South Eastern Europe, of the Commission of the Danube and of other organisms involved in the evolution of the objective;
- The agreement is concluded on a period of 20 years. The validity will be extended automatically on new periods of 5 years.

In order to prepare the access infrastructure on the new bridge over the Danube, according to the previsions of the Emergency Ordinance of the Government no. 149/2000, for the ratification of the Agreement between the Government of Romanian and the Government of Republic of Bulgaria regarding the technical, financial, juridical and organizational aspects referring to the building of the a new multi-modal bridge (on road and on railway) at the frontier between the two countries over the Danube, signed in Bucharest on July 5, 2000, CFR- SA ordered to ISPCF the elaboration of a feasibility study and the documentation for the tender in order to assign the execution of the works for the objective "Rehabilitation and modernization of the railway 113, Craiova Calafat, at the parameters of the infrastructure stipulated in AGTC agreement (Law 8/1993)".