A long-awaited 2,4 km long bridge has opened that links southern coastal areas to the rest of the country. The cable-stayed bridge was built for €526 million with the support of the European Union (EU) which put up €357 million, or about 85% of the cost of the project, notes the European Commission daily news.
In 2018, the China Road and Bridge Corporation won the international bid to construct the Pelješak Bridge and its access roads.
Croatian officials agreed to raise the bridge to a height of 55 meters (181 feet) so as not to prevent high-tonnage vessels from entering Bosnia’s lone seaport, located in the municipality of Neum.
Compared to Croatia, Bosnia is not in the EU. Anyone trying to go north from the medieval city of Dubrovnik on the southernmost Adriatic coast or cross from the Pelješac peninsula to the mainland had to go through two border checks. Now anyone can drive straight along Croatia’s Adriatic coast via the new bridge.
The Prime Minister of the country Andrej Plenković proclaim this inauguration: “a wonderful day for Croatia”. “Let us be happy that those who will use this bridge will contribute to Croatia’s economic development, better transport connectivity, better tourism revenue and, above all, better living standards for all people in the southern parts of Dubrovnik-Neretva County”, added PM Plenković.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia agreed to expand their cooperation on the development and financing of key green, sustainable transport projects in the country and Croatia’s green and digital transformation.
The memorandum was signed on the margins of the official opening ceremony of the Pelješac Bridge, an EIB-financed project and one of the largest infrastructure projects ever to be completed in Croatia.
Photo credit of the Pelješac Bridge: Croatia Week
