Welcome to Constanta!
This cache is placed right at the county border, allowing you to take a closer look to King Carol I bridge built between 1890 and 1895.
In the comunist era the bridge was named after its engineer, Anghel Saligny and it was competing with Gustave Eiffel's engineering works in France — the Garabit viaduct and the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
When it was made, the King Carol I bridge was the longest bridge in Europe and the 3rd longest in the world - 4,087.95 m (13,411.9 ft).
The inauguration ceremony was opened by King Carol I, who bolted the last bold, a silver bolt, into the bridge.
To guarantee that his creation would support the weight of a fully equiped train, Saligny stood on a small boat under the bridge as the first train passed the Danube.
At the entrance on the bridge you will notice two Dorobanti soldiers, in memoriam of the fallen heroes in the Independence War.
The French sculptor, Léon Pilet, realised 5 miniature models and the King himself choosed the one to be executed for the bridge.
The statues were casted in 3 pieces in Lyon and put in one place right where they are located today.
The soldier on the north side ownes the author signatures and the date (1985).
Anghel Saligny also designed the storage facilities in Constanţa seaport, one of the earliest examples of reinforced concrete architecture in Europe.
In all of his works (bridges, roads, silos, ports etc.), new elements are to be found.
Some of them were considered great technological advances at the time, for exemple:
* the first mixed-use (railway and highway) bridge in the country, Adjud - Targu Ocna;
* the first silos in the world made of reinforced concrete, which are preserved today in Constanţa, Brăila and Galaţi;
* special pool in Constanta port to allow oil export and two silos for grain export;
* many other metallic bridges.
Please also notice that the King Carol I bridge is the one on the right side as you look at the Danube and that you are close to the Nuclear Power Plant from Cernavoda, where 20% of the country electricity is produced.
Enjoy the view and the cache and please place it back where you found it.
Only cash container, no room for pen.