Inspection and retrofitting of Danube bridge – Ruse – Giurgiu – challenges and innovative approaches

The current article would summarize the activities related with the inspection and retrofitting of a bridge between Bulgaria and Romania across the Danube river, which connects the cities of Ruse (Bulgaria) and Giurgui (Romania).

The structure is built in the period 1952 - 1954. The main part of the bridge is a steel double deck truss with 160m and 80m spans and it combines 2 types of transport - road and railway traffic. There is a moving part of the superstructure which could be lifted when there is a high-water level, and the ships has to pass. The approaches part consists of steel 2T beams united with reinforced concrete prefab elements. The foundation type used for that structure is caissons. The total length of the bridge is approximately 2,2km. There is a combination of issues which compromise the road deck - heavy and intense traffic, poor maintenance, sultry weather conditions and that leads to the need of repair and rehabilitation of the bridge. Some challenges and new approaches would be described in the following paper.