South of the Slovakian capital, the Danube River widens, branching out and reclaiming its strength as if never diminished. There, a viaduct sits atop it, a metallic crown shading it just a bit.

The New Bridge over the Danube River is the most iconic infrastructure on the D4 ring road and the R7 radial highway. These two highways were designed to free Bratislava from the heavy traffic between Austria and Hungary that currently runs through the city.

The new bridge, which spans the Danube for three kilometers, is actually four interconnecting bridges: one over the Jarovecké, another over the kayaking channel, a third over the main part of the river, and the last over the Biskupské. With a maximum span of 210 meters at 35 meters wide with two lanes in each direction, the viaduct will support 35,000 vehicles a day.

In addition to the main bridge, the D4 motorway will cross another 57 footbridges, and the R7 radial will cross another 37. In total, the 27 kilometers of the D4 and the R7’s 32 kilometers will add up to help alleviate city traffic in Bratislava. Once finished, the new infrastructure will cut heavy traffic in the Slovakian capital by half.