Residents of Pärnu have been dreaming of a new bridge of 20 years.

The 364-meter-longe bridge is beautiful and airy, its architecture Mari-Liis Vunder has been living in Zürich for nine years and was inspired by the swans on the lake. Vunder is from Pärnu and winning the architecture contest made her very happy.

"It was a very emotional work, putting together the team was also. And there wasn't much time. It is the first bridge designed by me. But the chief engineer of my team had 30 years of experience working with bridges," Vunder said.

The bridge was designed by Trilog Studio and Stricto Project.

The head of the project, Andreas Papp from Stricto Project, said that the project is in the predicted schedule. "We have a well-working solution regarding the bridge and roads leading to the bridge. Based on this, we have formed a preliminary project and will start to coordinate it with other parties. In April, we are scheduled to apply for the building permit," Papp said.

At the end of July, the main project has to be ready and in autumn, the city of Pärnu will announce the building tender. The city will contribute €10 million, but a lot more money is needed. The city has applied for €8.6 million from the Cohesion Fund but the government has not yet made the decision.

The city hopes to get €8 million from next year's state budget. Generally, the state has supported local investments.

"This was the case during the construction of the Pärnu Great Bridge. And today the European Union is another partner. So three parties together are contributing to the right thing, I think it is very beautiful and meaningful," Meelis Kukk, deputy mayor of Pärnu, said.

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