Giurgiu-Ruse “Friendship” bridge, temporarily closed to car traffic next week. Alternative routes recommended by the authorities

The Giurgiu-Ruse “Friendship” bridge will be completely closed to traffic on June 4 and 5. Traffic will be suspended differently for light vehicles and heavy traffic.

The Infotraffic Center of the Romanian Police announces that between June 4 and 5, road traffic will be restricted by the Bulgarian authorities on the Romania-Bulgaria Friendship Bridge, between Giurgiu and Ruse, in both directions, according to the following schedule:

• Thursday, 06/04/2026, between 09:00 and 21:00, road traffic will be closed in both directions, for all categories of vehicles;
• Between 04.06.2026, 21:00 – 05.06.2026, 09:00, traffic will be allowed only for vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of less than 3.5 tons.

The measure is necessary for asphalting works on the direction to Romania and for pouring concrete at the expansion joints between the repaired sections of the bridge.

Alternative routes recommended by the Police

Infotrafic recommends drivers to carefully plan their journeys and use the alternative routes, respectively the crossing points:

• Calafat and Bechet (Dolj county);
• Zimnicea and Turnu Măgurele (Teleorman county);
• Călărași – Silistra (Călărași county);
• Vama Veche, Ostrov, Negru Vodă, Lipnița and Dobromir (Constanța county).

At what stage are the works on the Giurgiu-Ruse Bridge

Work on the Bulgarian side of the Friendship Bridge began in the summer of 2024 and was scheduled to last two years. Romania has done and finished such works on its part of the bridge since 2016.

The works on the Bulgarian side have reached the last hundreds of meters, the journalists from the Mediapool.bg publication, part of the European PULSE project along with HotNews, reported at the beginning of May.

Repair work is on schedule and expected to be completed by the June 10 contract deadline.

“Starting from April 15, the repair works began on the last 320 meters of the direction that goes to Romania,” the Bulgarian journalists report.

Until completion, traffic will continue to be restricted and vehicles will alternate from one side of the bridge to the other.

The Bulgarians' section of the bridge measures 1,057 meters and has not undergone any major repair and strengthening work since it was commissioned in 1954.