Construction of the bridge commenced in February 2024 (Photo: Besix)

Besix, as part of the Bererix consortium, is contributing to the Rail Baltica project, with a focus on designing and constructing the new central station in Riga, Latvia.

The project includes the development of the central station building, a major railway bridge over the Daugava River, railway embankments, and associated trackworks.

Construction of the bridge commenced in February 2024, beginning with the installation of two piers on the right bank of the Daugava: a terminal pier at Last膩dijas Street and an intermediate pier at General Radzi艈a Embankment. The next step involved constructing the first pier in the river, followed by the bridge span over General Radzi艈a Embankment, linking the piers.

In the first phase of construction, a 140-metre-long span structure was erected. This stage utilised approximately 117 km (137 tonnes) of prestressing cables and 4,473 m鲁 of concrete. Significantly, this project marks the first use of the balanced cantilever method for bridge construction in the Baltic region.

Besix says that the work was completed a month ahead of schedule.

At this stage, the first river pier is connected to the structures on the riverbank, and vehicular traffic in both directions to and from the city centre has resumed beneath the bridge.

These activities represent the final steps of this construction phase. The connection of the first bridge pier serves as a preparatory stage, with the full completion of the bridge slated for Rail Baltica鈥檚 Phase 1 implementation.

The next phase involves the construction of piers and a bridge span from Za姆usala. This will proceed once the necessary funding is secured and the construction priorities for Rail Baltica are finalised.