Pelješac bridge
Encyclopedia
The Pelješac Bridge is a bridge
intended to connect the Croatia
n peninsula
of Pelješac
with the Croatian mainland, spanning the Adriatic Sea
, which separates the two near the Bay of Mali Ston
and the Neretva Channel.
Because the Croatian mainland is intersected by a small strip of the coast around the town of Neum
which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina
(forming Bosnia and Herzegovina's only outlet to the sea), the bridge would also physically connect the southernmost part of Dalmatia
with the rest of Croatia
.
The bridge is currently in early construction phases, and it is also a contentious political issue.
, with a main span of 568 metres (1,863.5 ft). It will be 21 metres (68.9 ft) wide, enough to accommodate 4 lanes of traffic. This span will be the second largest in Europe. The two pylons will be 115 metres (377.3 ft) above the road deck, 170 metres (557.7 ft) above sea level, and 240 metres (787.4 ft) above the seabed. The beam part of the bridge will be composed of 14 smaller pylons (7 from Brijesta on Pelješac side and 7 from Komarna
on Croatian mainland side), each built at 180 metres (590.6 ft) apart, with a span of 180 meters. The whole bridge will be the 18th longest in Europe.
Beside the construction of the bridge, access roads at the both sides of the bridge are in construction, including 2 tunnels on Pelješac (one 2170 metres (7,119.4 ft) and other 450 metres (1,476.4 ft) long) as well as two smaller bridges on Pelješac, (one 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) and another 50 metres (164 ft) long).
It has not yet been announced whether the bridge will form a part of the A1 highway
, currently connecting Zagreb
and Vrgorac
. Currently, the road from Ploče via the bridge towards Dubrovnik is planned to be a 4 lane highway. However, the road from Dubrovnik to Debeli Brijeg (border crossing with Montenegro
) is not strictly defined yet.
said in May 2007 that preparations for the construction of the bridge were going according to plan, and that an initial tender was under preparation. Kalmeta added that the question of when the construction works will begin depends on whether a constructor would be selected in the first round.
On June 11, 2007, Hrvatske ceste
announced a public auction
for the construction of the bridge. On August 28, the list of bidders was released:
Kalmeta confirmed construction works were to start in Autumn 2007. The contractor is obliged to complete the project in four years. Construction costs were estimated at HRK
1.9 billion, nearly 260 million euro
s. Kalmeta's late August estimate about the building cost of "under 300 million euros" proved to be accurate.
The construction will be financed by Hrvatske ceste and by loans by European investment banks.
On September 14, 2007, the Ministry of Construction announced that the Konstruktor/Viadukt/Hidroelektra consortium won the contest and that they will sign a contract for 1,945,388,829.86 kuna, or roughly 265 million euros at the time.
Construction works on the northern and southern termini commenced on October 24, 2007, with sea works starting in the autumn of 2008.
In July 2009, the Croatian Government under Jadranka Kosor
announced that, as part of the effort to reduce expenses during the economic crisis, the construction of the Pelješac Bridge was to proceed under a much slower timetable than originally planned. In November 2009 Kalmeta mentioned 2015 as the year of completion. The 2010 budget and roadbuilding programme indicate that by the end of 2012, only 433.5 million kuna or 60 million euros will be invested in the bridge, which is less than a quarter of the total.
, as well as the mariculture
. These risks and concerns were explicitly addressed by the constructors in the preliminary studies.
The idea is also opposed for various economic reasons - whether such a bridge is really necessary as opposed to making a different deal with Bosnia and Herzegovina
, whether it is too expensive if built according to ecological demands, or whether it is best replaced with an undersea tunnel
. Recently more media coverage was given to idea of construction of an immersed tube
instead as a more cost-effective design not impeding access to Neum. Bosnia and Herzegovina has already agreed
to grant Croatia unobstructed passage through Neum.
The construction of the bridge has also been opposed by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it would complicate Bosnia-Herzegovina’s access to international waters. They opposed the building of the bridge, originally planned to be only 35 meters high, because it would have made it impossible for large ships to enter Neum
. Although the harbour of Neum currently cannot be used for commercial traffic, the Bosnian government declared that in the future a new harbour might be built, and that the construction of the bridge would harm this ambition.
Former prime minister Ivo Sanader
persisted with the bridge idea, and changed the design to reflect the concerns of BiH to the current plans. The two sides agreed on the construction of the bridge in early December 2006. In June 2007, after the tender was published, the media reported renewed opposition from the Bosnia and Herzegovina State Border Commission. Bosnia and Herzegovina stated they will sue Croatia, if the bridge is really built unilaterally.
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
intended to connect the Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
of Pelješac
Pelješac
Pelješac is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia...
with the Croatian mainland, spanning the Adriatic Sea
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
, which separates the two near the Bay of Mali Ston
Bay of Mali Ston
Bay of Mali Ston is a bay in the Adriatic Sea. The bay is located in Croatia's and partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial waters.The maritime boundary between the two countries is an equidistant line between the Pelješac peninsula of Croatia in the southwest and the Klek peninsula of...
and the Neretva Channel.
Because the Croatian mainland is intersected by a small strip of the coast around the town of Neum
Neum
Neum is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It comprises of coastline, the country's only access to the Adriatic Sea. As of 2009, municipal population was of 4,605 and the one of Neum main town was of 4,268 .-Features:Neum has steep hills, sandy beaches, and several large tourist...
which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
(forming Bosnia and Herzegovina's only outlet to the sea), the bridge would also physically connect the southernmost part of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
with the rest of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
.
The bridge is currently in early construction phases, and it is also a contentious political issue.
Characteristics
The Pelješac Bridge will be a 2404 metres (7,887.1 ft) long, 55 metres (180.4 ft) high beam and cable-stayed bridgeCable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....
, with a main span of 568 metres (1,863.5 ft). It will be 21 metres (68.9 ft) wide, enough to accommodate 4 lanes of traffic. This span will be the second largest in Europe. The two pylons will be 115 metres (377.3 ft) above the road deck, 170 metres (557.7 ft) above sea level, and 240 metres (787.4 ft) above the seabed. The beam part of the bridge will be composed of 14 smaller pylons (7 from Brijesta on Pelješac side and 7 from Komarna
Komarna
Komarna is a tourist locality in southern Dalmatia, Croatia.The village is south of the Neretva River Delta, 70 km north of Dubrovnik on the cost of the Mali Ston Bay. From all over the village there is spectacular sea views to The Pelješac Peninsula....
on Croatian mainland side), each built at 180 metres (590.6 ft) apart, with a span of 180 meters. The whole bridge will be the 18th longest in Europe.
Beside the construction of the bridge, access roads at the both sides of the bridge are in construction, including 2 tunnels on Pelješac (one 2170 metres (7,119.4 ft) and other 450 metres (1,476.4 ft) long) as well as two smaller bridges on Pelješac, (one 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) and another 50 metres (164 ft) long).
It has not yet been announced whether the bridge will form a part of the A1 highway
A1 (Croatia)
The A1 motorway is the longest motorway in Croatia spanning . As it connects Zagreb, the nation's capital, to Split, the second largest city in the country and the largest city in Dalmatia, the motorway represents a major north–south transportation corridor in Croatia and a significant part of the...
, currently connecting Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
and Vrgorac
Vrgorac
Vrgorac is a town in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County.The total population of Vrgorac is 6,501 , in the following settlements:* Banja, population 214* Dragljane, population 47* Draževitići, population 204* Duge Njive, population 106...
. Currently, the road from Ploče via the bridge towards Dubrovnik is planned to be a 4 lane highway. However, the road from Dubrovnik to Debeli Brijeg (border crossing with Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
) is not strictly defined yet.
Preparation
Croatian minister of infrastructure Božidar KalmetaBožidar Kalmeta
Božidar Kalmeta is a Croatian politician, currently serving as Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure in the Croatian Government .-Early life:He graduated in 1982 from the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Agronomy.From 1982 to 1993 he...
said in May 2007 that preparations for the construction of the bridge were going according to plan, and that an initial tender was under preparation. Kalmeta added that the question of when the construction works will begin depends on whether a constructor would be selected in the first round.
On June 11, 2007, Hrvatske ceste
Hrvatske ceste
Hrvatske ceste is a Croatian state-owned company pursuant to provisions of the Croatian Public Roads Act , the county and local roads are managed by county authorities, while the motorways are managed by Croatian Motorways Ltd and other concessionaires.The company is currently administered by a...
announced a public auction
Public auction
A public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government, or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a government agency with similar authority....
for the construction of the bridge. On August 28, the list of bidders was released:
- KonstruktorKonstruktorKonstruktor inženjering d.d. is a Croatian construction company founded in 1945 as "Konstruktor-Split" in Split, Yugoslavia ....
, ViaduktViaduktViadukt is a Croatian company active in civil engineering, especially in fields of bridge, tunnel and road engineering. Other business activities of the company include building construction and reconstruction of urban streets....
and Hidroelektra (from Croatia) - Dywidag (Germany), StrabagStrabagStrabag is a European construction company based in Villach, with its headquarters in Vienna, Austria). It is the largest construction company in Austria and one of the largest construction companies in Europe...
(Austria), CimolaCimolaCimola is a genus of moths in the family Lymantriidae.-References:*...
(Italy), EiffelEiffel (company)Eiffel is part of the Eiffage group and the descendant of the engineering company Société des Établissements Eiffel founded by Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower....
(France) - Alpina Bau (from Salzburg, Austria)
Kalmeta confirmed construction works were to start in Autumn 2007. The contractor is obliged to complete the project in four years. Construction costs were estimated at HRK
Croatian kuna
The kuna is the currency of Croatia since 1994 . It is subdivided into 100 lipa. The kuna is issued by the Croatian National Bank and the coins are minted by the Croatian Monetary Institute....
1.9 billion, nearly 260 million euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s. Kalmeta's late August estimate about the building cost of "under 300 million euros" proved to be accurate.
The construction will be financed by Hrvatske ceste and by loans by European investment banks.
On September 14, 2007, the Ministry of Construction announced that the Konstruktor/Viadukt/Hidroelektra consortium won the contest and that they will sign a contract for 1,945,388,829.86 kuna, or roughly 265 million euros at the time.
Construction
Construction works on the Peljesac project commenced in November 2005.Construction works on the northern and southern termini commenced on October 24, 2007, with sea works starting in the autumn of 2008.
In July 2009, the Croatian Government under Jadranka Kosor
Jadranka Kosor
Jadranka Kosor is a Croatian politician and former journalist. She is the current Prime Minister of Croatia, having taken office on July 6, 2009, following the sudden resignation of her predecessor Ivo Sanader. She is Croatia's first female Prime Minister since independence.-Early life:Jadranka...
announced that, as part of the effort to reduce expenses during the economic crisis, the construction of the Pelješac Bridge was to proceed under a much slower timetable than originally planned. In November 2009 Kalmeta mentioned 2015 as the year of completion. The 2010 budget and roadbuilding programme indicate that by the end of 2012, only 433.5 million kuna or 60 million euros will be invested in the bridge, which is less than a quarter of the total.
Criticism
The idea that a large bridge should connect Pelješac with the mainland has caused concern among the ecological activists in Croatia, who opposed it because a potential damage to the sea life in the bay of Mali StonBay of Mali Ston
Bay of Mali Ston is a bay in the Adriatic Sea. The bay is located in Croatia's and partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina's territorial waters.The maritime boundary between the two countries is an equidistant line between the Pelješac peninsula of Croatia in the southwest and the Klek peninsula of...
, as well as the mariculture
Mariculture
Mariculture is a specialized branch of aquaculture involving the cultivation of marine organisms for food and other products in the open ocean, an enclosed section of the ocean, or in tanks, ponds or raceways which are filled with seawater. An example of the latter is the farming of marine fish,...
. These risks and concerns were explicitly addressed by the constructors in the preliminary studies.
The idea is also opposed for various economic reasons - whether such a bridge is really necessary as opposed to making a different deal with Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
, whether it is too expensive if built according to ecological demands, or whether it is best replaced with an undersea tunnel
Undersea tunnel
An undersea tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under a body of water. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is impossible, or to provide competition for existing bridges or ferry links...
. Recently more media coverage was given to idea of construction of an immersed tube
Immersed tube
An immersed tube is a kind of underwater tunnel composed of segments, constructed elsewhere and floated to the tunnel site to be sunk into place and then linked together. They are commonly used for road and rail crossings of rivers, estuaries and sea channels/harbours...
instead as a more cost-effective design not impeding access to Neum. Bosnia and Herzegovina has already agreed
Neum Agreement
The Neum Agreement is a treaty between the Republic of Croatia and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina granting free passage of transit traffic between the territory of Dubrovnik-Neretva County around the city of Dubrovnik and forming a pene-exclave of Croatia and the remaining Croatian...
to grant Croatia unobstructed passage through Neum.
The construction of the bridge has also been opposed by the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as it would complicate Bosnia-Herzegovina’s access to international waters. They opposed the building of the bridge, originally planned to be only 35 meters high, because it would have made it impossible for large ships to enter Neum
Neum
Neum is the only coastal town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It comprises of coastline, the country's only access to the Adriatic Sea. As of 2009, municipal population was of 4,605 and the one of Neum main town was of 4,268 .-Features:Neum has steep hills, sandy beaches, and several large tourist...
. Although the harbour of Neum currently cannot be used for commercial traffic, the Bosnian government declared that in the future a new harbour might be built, and that the construction of the bridge would harm this ambition.
Former prime minister Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader
Ivo Sanader |Split]]) is a Croatian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.Sanader obtained his education in comparative literature in Austria, where he also later worked in the 1980s. He worked as a journalist, in marketing, publishing and also as a private...
persisted with the bridge idea, and changed the design to reflect the concerns of BiH to the current plans. The two sides agreed on the construction of the bridge in early December 2006. In June 2007, after the tender was published, the media reported renewed opposition from the Bosnia and Herzegovina State Border Commission. Bosnia and Herzegovina stated they will sue Croatia, if the bridge is really built unilaterally.
External links
- Computer visualization of the Pelješac Bridge
- Details of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge
- Pelješac Bridge Viadukt's billboard.. - In CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
with short EnglishEnglish languageEnglish is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
summary .
