THE EIFFEL GUSTAVE BRIDGE

Originally, a bridge over the Prut River was designed by a certain Melnik, a Russian manufacturer. On 18 May 1872, a Russian diplomatic agent, Ivan Alekseevich Zinoviev and Gheorghe Costaforu (Romania) signed a convention for the railway junction, Ungheni-Iaşi, which was ratified in January 1873. The railway line Iaşi-Ungheni was opened on ¹ August 1874 and the one connecting Chișinău to Ungheni in June 1875. In 1876, after the spring flooding of the Prut River, the railway bridge linking Moldova and Romania was almost destroyed, as the pillars had "shifted". The Ministry of Bessarabia decided to invite Gustave Eiffel to rebuild the bridge, which was very important for Russia, which was preparing for the Russian-Turkish war and could not afford any weakness at this point of the Prut. The bridge was opened on April 21, 1877, three days before the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878). On 23 April 1877, Russian troops entered Romania through Ungheni and declared war on the Ottoman Empire the next day. The bridge functioned perfectly until 1944, when it was destroyed by bombing. The bridge is now restored. It is still a strategic crossing point under the supervision of border guards. Close to the bridge is the "French Park", a small tribute to the French engineer. In the nearby town of Iaşi, in Romania, Gustave Eiffel also built the Grand Hotel Traian in 1882.