Greek drivers keep crossing a collapsed bridge nearly 3 years after it fell

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Greek drivers risk their lives crossing a collapsed bridge in Larissa.

The concrete span buckled during the Storm Daniel in Sept 2023.

Locals ignore warning signs to avoid a massive detour via the highway.

If you have ever complained about a pothole or a brutal speed bump on your morning commute , a look at central Greece might reset your sense of scale. Residents and farmers near the city of Larissa have pushed corner-cutting into territory few would dare, driving across a concrete bridge that officially collapsed almost three years ago and never got fixed. What should be a barricaded hazard has become part of the local route.

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The trouble dates back to September 2023, when the devastating Storm Daniel tore through Greece , Bulgaria, Turkey , and Libya, leaving thousands of casualties and wrecking infrastructure across the region. Thessaly in north-central Greece caught the worst of it, with flooding so extensive that 79 bridges came down.

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Among the casualties is the buckled Palaiopyrgos bridge, its central section now sagging to within inches of the Pineios river below. The deformation is impossible to miss, yet drivers keep using the crossing in pickups and SUVs as though nothing happened.

The current state of the bridge. Photo: Thanasis Kaliakoudas / LarissaNet

The bridge before its collapse (Google Maps)

Drone footage captured by local news outlet LarissaNet shows a Ford Ranger dropping down one side of the steep slope and clawing up the other, looking every bit like a truck picking its way through an off-road course rather than a public road.

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For the people who live there, ignoring the danger of a collapsed bridge comes down to plain convenience. The only other way across the river is a slow detour along the National Highway, and for farmers watching the clock and the fuel gauge, that time and money adds up fast. The catch, of course, is that every trip over the ruined bridge carries the risk of turning into a rescue operation.

Three years after the storm, residents know the infrastructure is compromised, but tourists have no such awareness. Traffic is officially banned, though without physical barriers the warning signs are easy to ignore. Navigation systems routinely route travelers toward the defunct crossing, forcing them to slam their brakes and swing into U-turns when the cracked concrete ramp appears in front of them.

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With any luck, the viral video footage will finally push local authorities to install real physical closures and head off a serious accident before one happens

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