After the works on the installation of asphalt and equipment of the bridge in Počitelj were completed, the conditions for its test load were met, which was done on Wednesday.
As part of the bridge testing, 12 trucks weighing 40 tons each arrived at the construction site, which were tested in cooperation with experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy of the University of Mostar.
The test load was carried out on the target points of the structure in motion, it was announced by the Federation of BiH Highways.
“The test results showed that the bridge behaves in accordance with the design conditions, i.e. that the deflections are within the designed limits and that the residual deformations are within the designed limits, as well as the behavior of the structure due to the dynamic load of the bridge. This will be followed by a technical reception that will give the results such that the bridge can be put into traffic, i.e. after that a usage permit will be obtained and the investor can put the bridge into traffic,” said the chief engineer for bridges and facilities on the Počitelj – Zvirovići section Ismet Hajduk.
JP Autoceste FBiH submitted a request for technical acceptance to the relevant ministry, and we expect that it will be completed soon and that we will receive a use permit, after which the bridge and the entire Počitelj – Zvirovići section will be in traffic.
The Hercegovina Bridge is part of the highway that is being built on the Pan-European Corridor 5c that runs through Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is an integral part of the section Počitelj – Zvirovići, which is 11.07 kilometers long, and the most important object on the section is the Hercegovina Bridge, the construction of which will connect the two banks of the Neretva River.
The colossal Hercegovina bridge is one of the largest in the region, with a length of almost one kilometer and a height of over 100 meters, and is one of the most complex structures on the entire 5c corridor.
The bridge is a continuous prestressed reinforced concrete bridge with a box cross-section, built using the technology of free cantilever construction.
The bridge is unique in that all four lanes of the highway are located on one structure.
The total amount of material incorporated into the bridge is 38,000 cubic meters of concrete, 9,000 tons of reinforcement, 1,500 tons of prestressing cables and 20,000 square meters of asphalt and waterproofing.
The construction of the bridge is financed from funds secured under the Loan Agreement concluded with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and grants from the European Union secured under the Connecting Agenda through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).
The total value of the works for the construction of the Herzegovina bridge is EUR 32,894,420.75 including VAT, they remind from Autocesta FBiH, Fena writes.
