The rehabilitation works of the historic bridge in the center of Lipova are already a year and a half behind schedule, initially scheduled for completion in April 2024, and the local administration cannot specify when the project will be completed, indicating that, during the works, problems were discovered that required changes to the technical design.
The metal bridge, built in 1896 and 144 meters long, was closed to road traffic 22 years ago due to deterioration. The construction was the shortest route between the city center and the CFR station or the Maria Radna Monastery, the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in the west of the country. Traffic was moved to the road bridge over the Mures located approximately 500 meters away.
The mayor of Lipova, Florin Pera, told AGERPRES on Monday that the rehabilitation of the historic building has accumulated delays because problems were also identified with the resistance structure.
In 2019, Lipova City Hall obtained funds for repairs only to the upper part of the metal bridge, but as soon as the work began, it was found that the supporting structure was seriously damaged.
"It was found that the metal structure supporting the roadway was seriously degraded, and the initial expertise did not target the resistance area. In fact, the findings could not have been made before the old concrete was uncovered. Once this problem was solved, another one intervened: initially, the concrete was planned to be poured in a monolithic system, but the solution was changed due to the risks of pollution of the Mure? River. This required the partial restoration of the technical project," the mayor explained.
The works cost approximately 13 million lei and were started in April 2023, with a completion deadline of 12 months. The mayor emphasized, however, that the financing is not European, but from the Romanian Government, so that delays in the project do not entail a loss of money.
"Let's hope that there will be no question of cutting funding for other reasons, possibly invoking austerity measures. So far, we have not been told anything in this regard, and payments to the builder are up to date," Pera added.
Currently, work is underway to assemble the runway from prefabricated reinforced concrete elements.
The mayor could not specify a deadline for completing the project.
When reopened, the bridge will be exclusively pedestrian and the local administration hopes to become a tourist attraction for the city. It will connect the city center and the train station platforms through a suspended pedestrian walkway that was built through another project, which aimed at the rehabilitation of the CFR Station.
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