The impossible is no longer so, and as of tonight, the Croatian territory reconnects with Dubrovnik via the Pelješac bridge, and the Neum corridor will no longer be the way to the Pearl of the Adriatic and back. Tonight at 11 pm, the last segment of the steel span structure of the Pelješac Bridge will be installed, which will connect the mainland from Komarna with Brijesta on the Pelješac peninsula. Although the vehicles will not cross the new bridge until June next year, tonight’s connection of its construction will be one of the most important dates in the calendar of this, as the Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butković called it: ”the project of all projects”.
Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and several of his ministers, present at a celebratory event. (Video: Index.hr)
The project started on several occasions, but for various reasons, it stalled until a contract worth half a billion euros was signed in April 2018, of which the European Union gave as much as 85 percent. The contract entrusts the construction to the Chinese consortium China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), one of the globally largest and most experienced in such works. It was also the first such project of a Chinese company in the European Union.
Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Frankovic shared an emotional post on his Facebook account, reflecting on the importance of the project for the Pearl of the Adriatic, and the story behind it. ”After 303 years, the extreme south of Croatia will be connected to the mother country, and we, the inhabitants of this part of Croatia, will cease to be second-class citizens waiting in a column at the border crossing for transit from one part to another. In recent days, many have been trying to direct the historical chronology of the Pelješac Bridge towards one, two, or some third option”, he wrote in his Facebook post. Franković also thanked PM Andrej Plenković, and he ended his post by saying that ”to the questions of what the bridge should be called, the answer is actually simple: the Pelješac Bridge and let it be guarded by St. Blaise and St. Rocco.
Likewise, the publication was accompanied by a video in which the progress of the bridge can be seen until a few days ago. You can see it below:
When talking about the impossible, it is precisely difficult not to go back thirty or twenty years, and remember the times when the project was groped around but without any concrete plan. Even since the project began three years ago, there have been many, many occasions where political tensions and doubts arose not only about its completion but about its development itself.
Now, the Peljesac bridge is a reality after the tireless and titanic efforts made in these three years and not only because of the demand for a bridge of these dimensions but also because of the area and the climatic conditions in which it was built. It is worth mentioning that the completion of the project has occurred in a very early period, and for this it would be necessary to work even at night and at dawn, taking into account the strong winds and storms that hit the area.
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