Chief Designer of the Pelješac Bridge: Such Projects Should Be True Masterpieces

Representatives of Hrvatske ceste, the client for the works, and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the contractor, signed the handover records of the project documentation for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge on Monday in Ston.

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The CEO of Hrvatske ceste, Josip Škorić, emphasized that with this act, the Chinese contractor is officially introduced into the construction of the Pelješac Bridge.

“We have waited a long time for the start of the works, and a huge administrative job has been done. Today, the deadline for the Chinese contractors officially begins. There is still demanding administrative work in the management of the project. We have acquainted the contractors with everything we expect from them, primarily in the execution of works, but also in administration, so that we are not exposed to corrections from the European Union,” said Škorić.

He added that machines should arrive at the construction site by the end of August. “Given the changed column grid compared to the old project, the contract stipulates that exploratory works should be carried out at that location,” added Škorić.

The Director of the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting (SAFU), Tomislav Petric, stated that this is the first coordination meeting and that SAFU’s role is to partner in helping to realize all public procurement procedures as soon as possible. “We have paid Hrvatske ceste 320 million kuna to ensure financing,” said Petric.

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The State Secretary in the Ministry of Regional Development, Spomenka Đurić, stated that as a managing body, the Ministry wanted to get acquainted with the project contractors. “We wanted everyone within the system to introduce themselves to each other and establish a way of communication and monitoring of the project, given its importance and size. This is extremely important to us. We will regularly monitor the implementation of the project,” emphasized Đurić.

The State Secretary in the Ministry of Transport, Tomislav Mihotić, pointed out that the question of subcontractors should still be posed to the Chinese contractor, but that it is in Croatia’s interest for as many domestic contractors as possible to participate in the construction.

“I hope we will succeed in preparing the construction site and works. For Dubrovnik, in addition to the Pelješac Bridge, the construction of a fast road from Dubrovnik Airport to the city of Dubrovnik is also important. We are looking for an optimal route, so that this will be the second major project benefiting the Dubrovnik area, especially for the airport whose traffic is approaching three million passengers,” said Mihotić.

He added that the issue of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge is open with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but that no one from BiH requested at the meeting ten days ago that the project be stopped.

>>>Contract Signed for the Construction of the Pelješac Bridge Worth More Than Two Billion Kuna

Bosnian media have recently reported that the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH, Bakir Izetbegović, could resort to filing a lawsuit against Croatia at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. Parties that predominantly gather the Bosniak electorate oppose the construction of the Pelješac Bridge because they believe it could obstruct the entry of larger vessels into the waters of the Neum Bay, as well as threaten BiH’s access to the open sea.

In April of this year, Hrvatske ceste and the Chinese consortium China Road and Bridge Corporation signed a contract for the construction of the land-Pelješac bridge with access roads, worth 2.08 billion kuna (excluding VAT).

The Pelješac Bridge will be 2.4 kilometers long and 55 meters high, and it will have four traffic lanes. From today, the deadline of 36 months for the realization of the construction of the Pelješac Bridge begins.

‘Extreme bridges like the Pelješac should be true masterpieces’

Večernji list brings an interview with the chief designer Marjan Pipenbaher from the Maribor company Ponting, who collaborated on the bridge project with – Jura Radić.

– CRBC has first-class references, so there should be no doubt about the execution of the technically and technologically very demanding Pelješac Bridge… The bridge will incorporate a total of more than 68,000 m3 of concrete, 33,800 tons of steel in the span structure, and 31,000 tons of steel for driven steel piles up to 124 m long… CBRC offered a price for the execution of the bridge with access roads of 2,081,611,954 kuna, or 275,710,192 euros… Such extreme bridges must be masterpieces. They require top engineering knowledge, great patience, and a sense of the beauty of a structure that will survive all styles and fashions. It will be a bridge with a soul that will connect all Croatian territory,” says Pipenbaher.