ZAGREB, July 30, 2018 – The Croatian road management and maintenance company Hrvatske Ceste (HC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) on Monday signed records of the handover of project documents for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge.
This formally marks the start of the construction project, HC CEO Josip Škorić said at the signing ceremony in Ston on the southern Pelješac peninsula. “We have been waiting for a long time for the works to start, and a huge amount of paperwork has been done. Today marks the official start of the deadline for the Chinese contractors. We have acquainted the contractors with everything we expect of them, both in terms of performance of the works and administration, so that we would not be subject to any corrections by the European Union,” Škorić said.
He said that construction machinery should be in place by the end of August.
Tomislav Mihotić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport, said that it was in Croatia’s interest that as many Croatian subcontractors as possible were involved in the construction. “I hope we will succeed in that in preparing the construction site and work. Apart from the Peljašac Bridge, the construction of a fast road between the town and the airport is also an important project for Dubrovnik. We are looking for the best route, as that would be the second major project of importance for the Dubrovnik area and particularly for the airport whose turnover is reaching three million passengers,” Mihotić said.
He said that the Pelješac Bridge construction issue remained open with the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but added that at a meeting held ten days ago no one from that country demanded that the project be halted.
Media in Bosnia and Herzegovina have said that the Bosniak chairman of the country’s collective presidency Bakir Izetbegović might resort to filing a lawsuit against Croatia with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg.
Predominantly Bosniak political parties are against the construction of the Pelješac Bridge because they believe it might prevent large vessels from entering the Bay of Neum and threaten Bosnia and Herzegovina’s access to the open sea.
The Pelješac Bridge is to be built between the Croatian mainland and Pelješac peninsula to bypass the 15-kilometre-long stretch of the coast at Neum where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea. The bridge will ensure connectivity between the Dubrovnik area and the rest of Croatia.
In April this year, HC and CRBC signed a contract for the construction of the bridge and access roads, worth 2.08 billion kuna (281 million euro) excluding VAT.
The bridge will be 2.4 kilometres long and 55 metres high. It should be built in 36 months starting from today.
