Komarno bridge on schedule despite cost and environmental protests

Slovakia’s transport minister said he will do everything possible to finish on time a new bridge connecting Komano with the Hungarian town of Komarom. Construction started last year on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno. Around 85% of the cost of the bridge - designed by Hungarian engineering firm Pont-Terv - will be covered by European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019. Transport m
July 13, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
You say Komarno, I say Komarom: let’s not call the whole bridge off (photo courtesy Pont-Terv engineering)
Slovakia’s transport minister said he will do everything possible to finish on time a new bridge connecting Komano with the Hungarian town of Komarom.

Construction started last year on the €117 million bridge over the Danube River between the Hungarian town of Komarom and the Slovak town of Komarno.

Around 85% of the cost of the bridge - designed by Hungarian engineering firm Pont-Terv - will be covered by 1116 European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. Completion is planned for winter 2019.

Transport minister Árpád Érsek made his comments during a recent on-site inspection of the cable stayed bridge and amid protestors concerned over the project’s costs as well environmental concerns about the planned bypass around Komarno.
 
The new bridge was rejected by local residents in their petition during planning, according to local media.

It was announced in mid-2016 that the Hungarian companies Hidepito and Meszaros es Meszaros had won the tender for the 600m bridge but with a price tag of just over €91 million, according to Hungarian media. It was also reported at the time that the project had suffered several delays because of changes to procurement rules in Hungary.

Hungary’s National Infrastructure Development Company (NIF) issued and awarded the tender. The new bridge will be around 200m from the steel Elizabeth Bridge.

In March last year, the 2465 European Commission approved around €100 million towards the estimated €117 million for the project. Hungary will get €52.5 million and Slovakia will receive €47.6 million under the EU's Connecting Europe Facility.

The two cities, although divided by the Danube, have at times been one city under various central European kingdoms.

Komárno is Slovakia's principal port on the Danube. It is also the centre of the Hungarian community in Slovakia, which makes up around 60% of the town's population.

Hungary’s Komárom and Slovakia’s Komárno are also connected by a more recently built so-called lifting bridge.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Norway drops planned fixed link between Moss and Horten
    October 25, 2018
    Norway’s Road Administration has stopped investigations into a proposed bridge or tunnel spanning 10.5km of the Oslofjord between Moss and Horten, according to Norwegian media. The Ministry of Transport has ordered Veivesendet to cancel consultations amid the government’s growing concern over the cost of any fixed link across the narrows, around 65km south of the capital Oslo. The half-hour car-ferry crossing as part of National Highway 19 will continue as usual. Several thousand people and vehicles m
    Read More
  • Romania’s latest Danube bridge project shaping up as costly
    September 4, 2017
    The cost for Romania’s newest bridge project over Danube River will likely be around €500 million, according to the latest media reports. Planning and design of the bridge is expected to take 18 months followed by 36 months for construction. The Bridge could be up to 23km including approach roads, depending on routes and geological conditios. It will be built between the towns of Braila and Jijila, in the Dobrogea Region, southeast Romania.
    Read More
  • Scotland’s new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth Estuary
    December 23, 2015
    The new Queensferry Crossing under construction in Scotland will be the third landmark bridge spanning the Forth Estuary - Mike Woof writes When the new Queensferry Crossing over the Forth Estuary opens at the end of 2016, it will be the third landmark bridge to be built spanning this short stretch of water. Lying alongside the existing road bridge and the historic rail bridge, this new structure will be as groundbreaking as the two earlier crossings were at the time of their construction.
    Read More
  • A rough ride for Denmark’s National Road Directorate
    November 1, 2019
    Denmark’s National Audit Office has criticised the Danish National Road Directorate for consistently miscalculating the level of investment required for road projects. The Road Directorate – Vejdirektoratet - used 33% less than budgeted for road projects from 2007-2017. The audit office said that "budget calculations by the transport ministry, including the Road Directorate, have not been accurate enough". Jens Holmboe, head of the Road Directorate, rejected the criticism, saying that the Audit Office
    Read More

Highlighted Content