More Than 100 Bridges in Bulgaria in Critical Condition

A total of 516 bridges in Bulgaria are classified as dangerous, with 106 in critical condition and the remainder in poor condition.

The structures are located across the country, on both major and motorway routes as well as secondary roads. They cross rivers, railway lines and other transport corridors. Reported issues include compromised structural integrity, undermined foundations and corroded railings.

One example highlighted is a bridge in Parvomay requiring urgent repair.

The bridge over the Debar River was built in the 1960s and carries the road towards Haskovo and Svilengrad. Its structure is significantly compromised, with its foundations undermined by the nearby Meka River, missing railings in places, and holes along the pedestrian sections on both sides.

Nikolay Mitkov, mayor of the municipality of Parvomay: “The bridge is indeed in a critical condition, as you can see the bridge beams are corroded, there are even breaks in the ironwork, everything is worn out—wooden supports dating back to the 1980s have been propping up this bridge for nearly 40 years.”

The wooden supports were installed in 1979 due to the passage of a lorry transporting the vessel “Emona” towards the Kardzhali Reservoir. Shortly afterwards, the vessel went down in history as the first “shipwrecked ship on land”.

Today, the bridge is also on the verge of collapse.

Diana Yaneva, a resident of the town of Parvomay: “Down below it’s a total mess, and above it people cannot pass—there is simply no other route to get to work…”

BNT: “Are you afraid?”
“Yes. Every morning we walk on this road, and in the evening we walk it again.”

Nedyalka Atanasova, a resident of the town of Parvomay: “I walk on the roadway, not on the pavement, and it is dangerous because the road is heavily trafficked.”

Under the Access to Information Act, the European Centre for Transport Policies has requested data from the Road Infrastructure Agency on exactly how many critical bridges there are in the country.

Diana Rusinova from the European Centre for Transport Policies said: “The figures we received in response are alarming, because in addition to these 106 bridges that are in critical condition, there are another 410 that are in poor condition.”

The estimated cost of repairing the dangerous bridge structures is over €350 million. The Ministry of Regional Development has acknowledged the problem.

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development: “Yes, there are dangerous bridges, they are even more than 100, there is a list, but I do not know for what reason—successive governments have continuously neglected this issue.”

Nikolay Naydenov, caretaker Minister of Regional Development, said: “There are even such road sections—major repairs are carried out up to the bridge, they reach the bridge, skip it, and then the works continue beyond it.”

Meanwhile, while a technical design for a full repair is being prepared for the bridge near Parvomay, no one can commit to precise timelines for the complete repair of the remaining more than 500 structures.