Today, the new 11 kilometers of the highway on the Počitelj – Zvirovići subsection will be officially opened, including the grandiose Hercegovina Bridge – one of the most complex infrastructure projects on the Vc Corridor.
As part of the official opening ceremony tonight at 7 p.m., Denis Lasić, director of JP Autocesta FBiH, Nermin Nikšić, Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Borjana Krišto, Chairperson of the BiH Council of Ministers, will address the audience.
The ceremony of the opening of the Počitelj – Zvirovići subdivision and the Herzegovina bridge will be attended by numerous representatives of the economic, political and public life of both BiH and the Republic of Croatia, as well as international officials, it was announced from JP Autocesta of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Počitelj – Zvirovići subdivision and the Hercegovina bridge will be opened for regular traffic a day later, on September 5, from 12 noon.
The Herzegovina Bridge is part of the highway on the Pan-European Corridor Vc that passes through Bosnia and Herzegovina and is an integral and most important object on the Počitelj – Zvirovići subsection. The length of the subdivision is 11.07 km and is divided into two LOTs.
LOT 1 consists of a highway route with a length of over 10 kilometers on which there are significant facilities: Petlja Počitelj with toll plaza and access roads, Inter-regional junction, three viaducts, a tunnel and an open route.
LOT 2 is the impressive Herzegovina bridge with a length of 980 m. The pillars of the bridge crossing the Neretva River are 92, 97, 92, 91, 88 and 66 m high, which makes it the highest bridge on Corridor Vc and one of the highest bridges in this part of Europe. It is also one of the most complex infrastructure facilities on the entire Vc Corridor.
The Počitelj – Zvirovići subdivision connects to the previously completed Međugorje – Bijača section, which is ten kilometers long.
The highway from Međugorje to Bijača connects with the Croatian highway Dalmatin.
On this section there are two Studenčica and Trebižat bridges, the Pavlovići viaduct and the Bijela Vlaka tunnel.
With the opening of the Počitelj – Zvirovići subdivision and the Herzegovina bridge, this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be directly connected to the European Union, i.e. the Bijača border crossing.
The construction of the bridge was financed by a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and grants from the European Union.
The total value of the works on the subdivision Počitelj – Zvirovići amounts to slightly more than 101 million euros without VAT.
Nikšić: The opening of the Počitelj-Zvirovići section on Corridor Vc is an exceptional event for Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nermin Nikšić, wrote on social networks that the ceremonial opening of the Počitelj-Zvirovići section on Corridor Vc is an exceptional event for Bosnia and Herzegovina and announced that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue with the construction of infrastructure in the coming months.
“On this section, there is also the grandiose Hercegovina Bridge, 980 meters long with columns up to 98 meters high, which makes it one of the largest bridges in this part of Europe. The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to build infrastructure in the coming months, and we are opening new kilometers of highway soon,” wrote Prime Minister Nikšić.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina is getting one of the largest infrastructure facilities on the highway route, the Herzegovina Bridge, which will be one of the largest bridges in Europe,” said Federal Minister of Transport and Communications Andrijana Katić.
“We based our expectations on the deadlines for the completion of the works on the Počitelj – Zvirovići section on a realistic assessment of the state of the works and all the procedures that need to be carried out. Finally, I can say that all the works on the Herzegovina bridge, as well as on this section, have been successfully completed, the necessary approvals have been obtained and approval for use, and thus all conditions are met for the stock to be put into regular use from September 5 of this year,” said Katić.
She added that the opening of the Počitelj – Zvirovići section will mean another step closer to the final goal – the completion of the Vc corridor through the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
