The floods that struck southern Albania in 2017 exposed a practical weakness in Darëzezë: getting livestock, food stocks and farming equipment across the river to higher ground was difficult when time mattered most. A subsequent bridge project turned that evacuation problem into a concrete infrastructure intervention.
In an account published on November 13, 2023, the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance described how flood resilience work identified the crossing as a community priority. Most households in Darëzezë depend on agriculture, while lower-lying farmland leaves livestock sheds, equipment stores and granaries exposed to flooding.
The available routes constrained evacuation. The river crossing usable by cars and tractors was a significant distance from the farmland. A pedestrian bridge closer to the agricultural area had been severely damaged in the 2017 floods. Moving larger animals and crop loads, as well as smaller livestock, consequently became particularly challenging.
The Albanian Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies began working with affected communities through the alliance in 2019. In Darëzezë, a community resilience assessment identified better transport infrastructure as a way to improve connectivity and facilitate evacuation.
The Albanian Red Cross subsequently worked with the Municipality of Fier and the Ministry of Defence, combining resources and technical expertise to construct a replacement bridge. The alliance’s account describes the new crossing as open and in use. It is higher and wider than its predecessor and uses stronger, more durable materials intended to help it remain operational during floods.
That distinction matters: construction was a completed intervention, while its performance during future flooding remained an expectation. The account explicitly said the bridge’s full benefits would be felt in a future flood. It therefore supports a conclusion about improved infrastructure, rather than proof of losses already prevented.
The crossing also connects farmland with the settlement for everyday agricultural work. Darëzezë’s experience demonstrates how a disaster can reshape a local building decision around evacuation and livelihoods. It does not establish which disaster changed Albania’s planning most, but it provides a specific example of a community’s identified vulnerability becoming a working piece of infrastructure.