Zemun-Borca bridge connected, to be opened in December

BELGRADE - The construction of a bridge over the Danube between Belgrade’s neighborhoods of Zemun and Borca has been connected and the bridge should be opened by the New Year, Serbia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic said Wednesday.

“The works are going according to plan and the Serbian government expects to open this bridge at the end of December,” Mihajlovic told reporters during a tour of the bridge construction site with Chinese Ambassador Li Manchang.

She added that all access roads, totaling 21.6 kilometers, will be completely built during 2015.

The government and the contractor, China Road and Bridge Corporation, will sign Annex 4 to their contract as early as next week, which provides for an additional payment of up to EUR 2.5 million for the works already completed, Mihajlovic said.

The Chinese ambassador said that he was confident that under the leadership of the current government, which he described as capable, hardworking and efficient, the bridge would be construction in time.

This is the first infrastructure project carried out by China and Serbia together, and I hope that more projects are to come, the ambassador said.

The works on the Zemun-Borca bridge began in late October 2011.

The new bridge across the Danube will be 1,507 meters long, 29.1 meters wide and 22.8 meters high, with a total of six lanes and pedestrian and bicycle paths on both sides.

The total cost of the bridge construction together with the access roads is about USD 260 million, 85 percent of which is provided by China's Exim Bank, while the remaining 15 percent is given by the Serbian government and the City of...