Belgrade's Old Sava Bridge to be demolished, new one built

Belgrade's Old Sava Bridge to be demolished, new one built

"The first reason to build a new bridge is functional, because the one we have does not meet the needs of Belgraders," said Mayor Sinisa Mali.

"The second is safety, and the third aesthetics," he said, adding that construction would start during 2018.

The mayor revealed a proposal to relocate the structure of the old bridge to a different location, and in that way "preserve a piece of history" - and said citizens would be included in this campaign in the months to come. Director of Urban Planning Milutin Folic, who headed a jury that selected the winning design, announced that it was submitted by Belgrade-based Institute of Transportation CIP.

Civil engineer and member of the jury Aleksandar Bojovic stressed that the current bridge is about 16 meters wide, while the new one will be 32 and 35 meters wide, "and in that way satisfy traffic capacities." The bridge was reconstructed in 2008 - a job that cost EUR 10 million.

The Old Sava Bridge was built by occupying German forces during the Second World War - after they destroyed the existing bridge over the river, during their April 1941 bombing of the Serbian capital.