A part of the earthen embankment on the new bridge near the villages of Tribrode and Braničevo near Golupac collapsed and fell into the Pek River after several days of rain that did not cause the river to overflow or flood.
After several days of light rain, part of the earth embankment on the newly opened the bridge on the Danube River masterly near Golupac, collapsed and fell into the river Pek.
Part of the bridge is closed to traffic, secured by the police, and construction crews are carrying out rehabilitation work.
The bridge in question on the road from Veliko Gradište to Golupac, on the part of the Danube Highway, was officially opened just five weeks ago, on February 23 of this year.
The asphalt recently cracked on the same road, the Party of Freedom and Justice announced on the social network X (X).
As explained by Miloš Ivanović from SSP Veliko Gradište, the asphalt on this road is three centimeters thick, and 68 kilometers of this road cost 526 million euros.
Three days ago, the asphalt on the high-speed road that was opened by Vučić 39 days ago came off, and tonight the bridge on the same road gave way.
By the way, the asphalt on the road is THREE CENTIMETERS thick, and we paid exactly 68 euros to the godfathers from the SNS for 526.000.000 km of high-speed road! pic.twitter.com/CwgKOWqjWA— Consigliere® (@santickaopesnik) April 2, 2025
Unfinished construction
The work on the construction of the bridge was not completed, and the soil used for the embankment was not compacted enough, experts warn the Insider.
"That slope was not secured in an adequate way, but not only was it not secured in an adequate way, but it is clear from the pictures that we saw that the material was inadequately compacted, if it had been compacted better it would not have washed away like this. I have to emphasize that the rains that occurred these days were extremely small, somewhere around thirty millimeters per square meter, which are extremely small rains, it is not a serious rain. The question arises what would have happened if they had been much larger rains," hydrogeologist Vladislav Marinković tells Insider.
Bridge opened before completion of construction?
The structure of the embankment also indicates that the bridge was opened to traffic before its construction was fully completed, Jovan Despotović, a retired professor of hydrology and hydrotechnics at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, told Insider.
"This embankment, the embankment that is in the approach road on the bridge, is not lined with stone or concrete, but rather an inconsistent soil has been left behind. The fact that I said it is not finished means that this embankment is at risk of large waters, such as those encountered by the Pek River. It must be protected from the Pek River with a more stable surface layer, and it protects this earth that we see now. That earth is not the final layer, it is not the final layer of the structure," says Professor Despotović for Insider.
The bridge in such a condition was not allowed to be opened to traffic, heavy rain, or heavy flooding of Peka could have led to tilting of the connection between the bridge and the road.
The contract is not publicly available.
The commercial contract for the construction of the recently opened section is not publicly available, so it is not known whether, in addition to investor, contractor and design supervision, independent, or external, supervision was engaged in the execution of the works, nor which company performed it. In all phases of construction, supervision was obliged to notice all omissions.
The bridge is located on the section Požarevac - Veliko Gradište - Golubac, which is 68 kilometers long. The section was officially opened on February 23 in the presence of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.
The project for the construction permit for the bridge was done by the AG Institute. The state is the financier, and "Corridors of Serbia" is the investor of the project. The main contractor is the Serbian branch of the Chinese company Shandong Hi-Speed Group.
Source: Insider
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