In the past there were 47 bridges on the Ipoly (Ipeľ) River, but most of them were destroyed in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Recently 10 bridges existed, three railway and seven road bridges. The most well-known are the border crossing road bridges near

Balassagyarmat Balassagyarmat (Hungarian: ; formerly ''Balassa-Gyarmath''; ; or ) is a town in northern Hungary. It was the seat of the Nógrád County, Nógrád Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus. Balassagyarmat is the capital city of Palóc country as ...

or near

Šahy Šahy (, rarely ) is a town in southern Slovakia, The town has an ethnic Hungarian majority and its population is 7,238 people (2018), with an average age of 42.5. Geography It is located at the eastern reaches of the Danubian Lowland on the riv ...

(Ipolyság) (part of European main road E77) and railway bridge near

Szob Szob () is a town in Pest county, Central Hungary, Hungary. It is just south and east of the Slovak border on the north bank of the Danube. Szob is on a major electrified rail connection from Bratislava and a major railway border crossing into H ...

(part of Pan-European Corridor IV.) near the junction of the Ipoly and

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. Reconstruction of the destroyed bridges was initiated after the fall of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. Concrete plans and permissions have been elaborated in last few years. At the moment there are projects for 9 bridges on ca 100 km long section of the river between

Ipolytarnóc Ipolytarnóc () is a village in Hungary, Nógrád county. There is a fossil site close to it, the Ipolytarnoc Fossils Nature Conservation Area. Fossils Sometimes referred to as the "Prehistoric Pompeii", Ipolytarnóc is the location of 23 to 17 m ...

and

. The first Hungarian – Slovak interstate agreements for building a bridge near the town of

Szécsény Szécsény is a town in Nógrád county, Hungary. Etymology The name comes from the Slavic ''sečь'': cutting (''Sečany''). 1219/1550 ''Scecen''. History The valley of the Ipoly and especially the area of that around Szécsény was inhabite ...

and another near the village of

Nógrádszakál Nógrádszakál is a village and commune in Nógrád County, Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeas ...

on the upper part of the river were signed in November 2007. In 2009 this project was approved by the Hungary – Slovakia Cross-border Co-operation programme. In March 2010 the constructors were chosen and 2 bridges inaugurated in December 2011 and February 2012. Governments have reached agreement about the rebuilding of another two bridges on lower part of river near

Vámosmikola Vámosmikola is a village and commune in Pest County in Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, ...

and near

, which was opened in July 2023. After the accession to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and to the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

local people installed a few foot bridges, mostly in places of former bridges.

References

External links

The History of Current and Former Places of 47 Ipoly (Ipeľ) Bridges

Agreement to construct two bridges across the Ipoly (Ipel) River.

EU grants Hungary, Slovakia EU 7 million € to build bridges over border river

Pan-European corridor IV.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipoly (Ipel) Bridges Bridges in Slovakia