Test Load Completed on 'Hercegovina' Bridge, the Largest Structure on Corridor 5c

(Patria) - On Wednesday, August 7, 2024, a test load examination was conducted on the Hercegovina bridge. After the completion of asphalt laying and bridge equipment works, conditions for the test load were met, announced by the FBiH Motorways Public Company.

For this occasion, 12 trucks weighing 40 tons each arrived at the construction site, and the testing was carried out in cooperation with experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy of the University of Mostar.

The test load was conducted at targeted points of the structure while in motion.

“The testing of the Hercegovina bridge with a test load has been completed. The test results showed that the bridge behaves in accordance with the design conditions, i.e., that the deflections are within the designed limits, that the residual deformations are within the designed limits, as well as the behavior of the structure under dynamic load of the bridge. After this, a technical inspection follows, which will provide results such that the bridge can be opened to traffic, i.e., after that, a usage permit will be obtained and the investor can open the bridge to traffic, that is, for all of us to use,” said Ismet Hajduk, chief engineer for bridges and structures on the Počitelj – Zvirovići section.

The FBiH Motorways Public Company has submitted a request for technical inspection to the relevant ministry, and we expect this to be completed soon and that we will obtain a usage permit, after which the bridge and the entire Počitelj – Zvirovići section will be open to traffic.



The Hercegovina bridge is part of the motorway being built on the Pan-European Corridor 5c, which passes through BiH. It is an integral part of the Počitelj – Zvirovići section, which is 11.07 kilometers long, and the most significant structure on the section is precisely the Hercegovina bridge, whose construction 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 nearly one kilometer and a height of over 100 meters, and it is one of the most complex structures on the entire Corridor 5c.

The bridge is a continuous prestressed reinforced concrete bridge with a box girder cross-section, built using the free cantilever construction technology. The bridge is unique in that all four motorway lanes are located on a single structure.

The total amount of material built 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 contractor for the bridge is the consortium Azvirt Limited Liability Company, Sinohydro Corporation Limited, and Powerchina Roadbridge Group Co. Ltd, while supervision of the construction is carried out by the company IRD Engineering S.R.L.

The construction of the bridge is financed from funds secured under the Loan Agreement concluded with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and non-repayable funds from the European Union secured under the Connectivity Agenda through the Western Balkan Investment Framework (WBIF).

The total value of works for the construction of the Hercegovina bridge is EUR 32,894,420.75 including VAT, as stated in the announcement from the FBiH Motorways Public Company.