The Southern bridge

The Southern Bridge is the most significant and far-reaching construction project of Transport Systems in the Baltic States in the last 25 years. Because of its design, industry experts consider the Southern Bridge one of the most advanced structures in Eastern Europe.

The idea of the necessity for a southern bridge in Riga is very old. Back in 1937, urban development plans for Riga designated a site for the bridge; however, construction only commenced in 2004.

The Southern Bridge is 803 m in length and 34.28 m in width; it contains six traffic lanes, three in each direction. The structure of the bridge consists of 10 abutments, six pylons and eight cable stays.

The task of the Southern Bridge is to facilitate traffic between the south-western part of Pardaugava and districts on the right bank of Riga, without crossing the downtown area and thus reducing congestion. Also, the bridge redirects through-traffic away from the city centre and reduces the strain on the other city bridges. Stage one of the construction of the Southern Bridge was completed in November 2008. At the moment, second stage of the project is developed and it includes complex system of access roads. Third and final stage of the Southern Bridge is in the planning phase.

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