The necessity of building a railway bridge that links Romania and the Black Sea was called into question since the reign of Barbu Stirbei.
In 1882, the Romanian government has launched an international competition for the design of two bridges across the Danube and over Borcea, the line Fetesti-Cernavoda.
Following this contest, Anghel Saligny, one of the most important Romanian engineers, was proposed for the design of the bridge. In 1887, he is officially designated to draft Fetesti-Cernavoda line.
The bridge between Fetesti and Cernavoda was inaugurated in 1895. It covers a length of 21 km and includes bridges over Borcea and Danube, with the opening of over 190 m and four spans of 140 m. It has a height of more than 30 m compared to the water level to facilitate the passage of ships of various sizes.
At that time, the bridge at Cernavoda was the longest bridge in Europe and the third longest in the world. The resistance of the bridge was tested with a convoy of 15 heavy locomotives. The engineer Anghel Saligny has guaranteed with his life this resistance, climbing up, along with other workers, on a boat that anchored it under the bridge when moving locomotives.
Editor: Ardelean Raluca-Oana, ArtTour Romania for Est Evasion