By Nicolas Bard

The Rio-Antirrio Bridge, officially known as the “Charilaos Trikoupis” bridge, is a cable bridge, completed and put into operation in 2004. Thanks to it both the conjunction between Rio and Antirrio, which was made through Ferry Boat and the connection of Greece and the connection of Greece and the connection of Greece with rest of Europe. It is part of the Ionian Road (A5), the European Road 55 (E55) and the European Road 65 (E65) and was built by the French company Vinci.

This imposing 2,880 -meter -long bridge was inaugurated on August 7, 2004, a week before the 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony in Athens. The torchbearers of the Olympic Flame were the first to formally cross the bridge all along. One of them was Otto Rehhagel, the German coach of the National Football Team at the 2004 European Football Championships, and another was Kostas Laliotis, a former Minister of Public Works, during which the project began.

The total cost of the construction is 630 million euros. The construction was funded by the Greek State, the consortium and loans by the European Investment Bank. The construction was completed before the initial assessment, which provided for completion of the projects between September and November 2004, and within a budget. Some sources, however, say the total cost of the bridge reached 839 million euros.

On May 25, 2007, in a special ceremony before the building’s administration building, the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias named this bridge “Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge”, subsequently undertaking the artistic work in its form. Charilaos Trikoupis had envisioned the construction of a railway bridge during his 19th century prime minister, but the work was considered very expensive for his time. In the 21st century his vision came true and was expected to change the transport in our country forever, constituting a landmark of the modern Greek state.

More or more decades after its launch, this bridge seems to be causing new problems rather than solving them. For the residents of Nafpaktos who work against Patras, and vice versa, daily toll passage costs very expensive, so many are the ones who prefer to pass through the ferry boat to save money, but they waste valuable time. The tolls of the bridge today cost € 15.40 for passenger cars, for trucks € 48.90, while buses reach up to € 78.20! These prices are for many prohibitives, resulting in bypassing this construction achievement to save money. Instead of going ahead, it seems that we are returning to times before 2004, where the ships of Rio and Antirrio were suffocating full of vehicles that wanted to cross the opposite bank.

Residents of the area speak on his camera where there is Greece, express their concerns and ask the state to take immediate action to facilitate their movements.