Tender evaluation nears for Croatia’s Peljeski Bridge Project

Croatia’s roads agency Hrvatske Ceste will soon start evaluating tenders for the controversial Peljeski Bridge project, according to national media. Bids for construction of the four-lane 2.4km long bridge have been submitted by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, Austria's Strabag as well as consortia headed by Italy’s Astaldi and the Turkish company Ictas. The bridge will connect Croatian territory by traversing the Adriatic Sea’s Mali Ston Bay.
September 22, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Croatia’s roads agency Hrvatske Ceste will soon start evaluating tenders for the controversial Peljeski Bridge project, according to national media.

Bids for construction of the four-lane 2.4km long bridge have been submitted by the 3366 China Road and Bridge Corporation, Austria's 945 Strabag as well as consortia headed by Italy’s 1324 Astaldi and the Turkish company Ictas.

The bridge will connect Croatian territory by traversing the Adriatic Sea’s Mali Ston Bay. Vehicles must currently head from Croatia into Bosnia to re-enter a peninsula that is Croatian territory.

While the bridge will be good for the economy of the Croatian area, Bosnia and Herzegovina has in the past requested that Croatia pause procurement for the project pending discussions between the two countries over the design.

Bosnia’s concern is that the largest ocean-going ships should have access up Ston Bay to Bosnia’s only sea port, Neum, should the Bosnian government decide to upgrade the terminals there.

Discussions have resulted in Croatia accepting design changes – and added costs - suggested by Bosnia, including an increase of bridge's height from 35m to 55m and spacing bridge supports at least 200m apart.

In June, the 2465 European Commission approved €357 million of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy funds to build the bridge – around 85% of the project’s cost. The European Union is also funding supporting infrastructure, such as the construction of access roads, including tunnels, bridges and viaducts, the building of an 8km-long bypass near the town of Ston and upgrading works on the existing road D414. Project completion is set for 20122.

Croatia's prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic, has consistently said that the project will not jeopardise the interests of Bosnia.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bosnia tunnel project; work starting
    November 1, 2019
    Construction work is due to start on the Prenj Tunnel project in Bosnia. The tunnel will form part of the important Corridor 5C route. Measuring 10km in length, the road and tunnel project is expected to cost €820 million to build. Funding is being supplied jointly by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The Bosnian Government has also secured a portion of the necessary funding from Bosnian banks. In addition, a contract has been agreed for the
    Read More
  • New road now open to traffic in Rwanda
    September 24, 2015
    A major road project in Rwanda has been completed on schedule by contractor STRABAG. The rebuilt road’s route runs 78km and connects capital Kigali with the border town of Gatuna. STRABAG won the contract to reconstruct the road in July 2011. The construction phase commences in January 2012 and took 44 months to complete. The official opening took place in the presence of Rwanda’s Minister of Infrastructure James Musoni and Neven Mimica, the European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation and Deve
    Read More
  • Poland eyes PPP for four major highway sections worth €2.32 billion
    June 18, 2018
    Poland will use the public-private partnership model for four road sections worth in total €2.32 billion. The roads are the S6 running from Koszalin to the DK6 at Bozepole Wielkie, the S10 from Bydgoszcz to Torun, the western ring-road of Szczecin and the ring-road around the TriCity metropolis. Tenders will be issued likely by the end of the year or the first quarter 2019, according to Polish media. The decision to adopt the PPP model for infrastructure projects is partly a response to the reduction
    Read More
  • Europe closes in on the crossings
    September 27, 2017
    The Mersey Gateway bridge project off England’s west coast passed a milestone recently with the first joining of two of the deck sections. The key segments, as the sections are called, link the north approach viaduct to the north pylon deck span and are the first of four deck-joins scheduled for this summer. In total, there are five sections of bridge deck and approach roads that need to be joined.
    Read More

Highlighted Content