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 Alexandru Dan
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| General Description | The Anghel Saligny Bridge (formerly King Carol I Bridge) is a railroad truss bridge in Romania, across the Danube River, connecting the cities of Cernavodă and Feteşti. The bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments. Saligny was born in Focşani in the eastern province of Moldavia. He was a founding member of the Bucharest Polytechnic Society (the precursor to today's Bucharest Polytechnic Institute) and was even appointed a Minister of Public Works. In 1892, he was elected a member of the Romanian Academy, and he served as its president between 1907 and 1910. Anghel Saligny's most important work was the King Carol I Bridge over the Danube at Cernavodă. Although a public offer had been held by the Romanian government for the erection of a bridge in that location, all projects were found to be subpar and subsequently rejected. Taking Saligny's previous experience into account, the Romanian government hired him and gave him the daunting (at the time) task to draw up the plans for the new structure. The bridge was built between 1890 and 1895 over the Danube and Borcea branch of the Danube, and when it was completed it then became the longest bridge in Europe and the third longest in the world. The two cities on the banks of the river which was built were Feteşti on the left side and Cernavodă on the right side. The bridge has a length of 4,087.95 m (13,411.9 ft) of which 1,662 m (5,453 ft) over the Danube and 970 m (3,180 ft) over Borcea and was designed by Romanian engineer Anghel Saligny. It is 30 m (98 ft) above the water, allowing tall ships to pass under it. The crossing of Danube at Cernavodă was provided through a bridge with a central opening of 190 m (the largest in Continental Europe) and other four openings of 140 m (460 ft), beside to a viaduct with 15 openings of 60 m (200 ft). Another bridge, with three openings of 140 m (460 ft) and 11 openings of 50 m (160 ft), was designed and realized over Borcea branch. A viaduct with 34 openings of 42 m (138 ft) was built between the two branches of the stream, over a 14 km (8.7 mi) wide water.[2] The bridge was inaugurated on 26 September 1895 and as a test on the opening, a convoy of 15 whistling locomotives sped at 60 km/h, followed by a train reserved for 'guests', at 80 km/h. It was used for almost a century, until 1987, when the new Cernavodă Bridge, built next to it, was inaugurated. |
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