The connection of the span structure of the Pocitelj bridge, over 100 meters high and almost a kilometer long, has been completed, making this bridge in the southern Bosnia and Herzegovina one of the highest bridges in the region and the largest one on the Corridor VC.

“The connection of the Pocitelj bridge, which ended on Thursday, can be marked as the beginning of a more active, dynamic period ahead of us, in which we aim to intensify the construction of the highway in Herzegovina. With the near completion of activities on the Pocitelj – Zvirovici section and the start of construction work on the Prenj tunnel and the Mostar north – Mostar south section and the Kvanj – Buna tunnel, which we plan to contract this year, we are opening new perspectives for the business community and raising the economic potential of this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a higher level,” said Denis Lasic, acting director of the state-owned FBiH Motorway company, in charge of road construction in the Federation entity (FBiH).

The total amount of material installed in the bridge is 38,000 m3 of concrete, 9,000 tons of reinforcement and 1,500 tons of prestressing cables, while 20,000 m2 of asphalt and waterproofing will be installed in the coming period, according to official data.

The construction of the Pocitelj bridge, a bridge that spans over the M-17 main road, the Neretva river and the Sarajevo-Ploce railway, is being financed from the funds secured under the loan agreement concluded with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and grants from the European Union secured within the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), with the total value of the works on the Pocitelj bridge reaching 28.114 million euro VAT excluded.

The contractor for the bridge, which is located not far from the historic settlement of Pocitelj, is a consortium consisting of: Azvirt Limited Liability Company (Azerbaijan), Sinohydro Corporation Limited (China) and Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. Ltd. (China).

Completion of the construction of the Pocitelj bridge is expected in the fall of this year.