The Pupin Bridge ( sr-cyr, Пупинов мост, Pupinov most) is a

road bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

over the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

River in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The bridge is located upstream of the city center and connects Belgrade neighbourhoods of

Zemun Zemun ( sr-cyrl, Земун, ; hu, Zimony) is a municipality in the city of Belgrade. Zemun was a separate town that was absorbed into Belgrade in 1934. It lies on the right bank of the Danube river, upstream from downtown Belgrade. The developme ...

and

Borča Borča ( sr-cyr, Борча, ) is an urban settlement of the municipality of Palilula, Belgrade, Serbia. , it has a population of 46,086 inhabitants. Location Borča is located just north of the downtown Belgrade, in the Banat section of the mun ...

. It is part of Semi-Inner Ring circle. Opened in December 2014, it became the second bridge over the Danube in Belgrade, after the

Pančevo Bridge Pančevo Bridge ( sr-cyr, Панчевачки мост, Pančevački most) or colloquially Pančevac ( sr-cyr, Панчевац) is a bridge over the Danube in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It was named after the northern city of Pančevo (in ...

in 1946.

Name

Due to the origin of the investors, even before the construction began, the bridge was colloquially called "Chinese Bridge" ( sr, Кинески мост, ). During the construction, its tentative name was ''Zemun–Borča bridge'', but later it got named after Serbian scientist and inventor Mihajlo Pupin. The name Chinese Bridge, however, continued to linger in an informal usage. It was decided to call it after Pupin as the bridge connects the

Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ...

region, a birth region of the scientists, with Belgrade. As it was decided to name the bridge after Pupin a bit prior to its opening, the Chinese partners decided to mark the occasion placing a marble slab which would commemorate the date of the ceremonial opening. However, this caused a minor scandal. Apart from the bad Serbian grammar, the memorial was carved in the black marble rectangle slab, which, unknown to the Chinese, is a traditional Serbian gravestone. After public protests, "the bridge's headstone" was replaced.

History

The need for a bridge at this location was apparent for decades prior to its construction. However, the bad economic state and constant need for repairs on the bridges across the other Belgrade river, the

Sava The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...

, postponed the project. First concrete steps were made in 2009 when city administration gave preliminary details about the project. The decision was made that the bridge will be built from the Chinese credits and that Chinese firms will build it, with Serbian companies as the sub-contractors. In the late 2009 a

precontract A precontract is a legal contract that precedes another; in particular it can refer to an existing promise of marriage with another. Such a precontract would legally nullify any later marriages into which either party entered. The practice was comm ...

was signed with the Chinese partners. It stipulated the beginning of the construction in the mid-2010 and the deadline set for the finish was 2013. But the deadlines were postponed in the next year and a half, citing various reasons (lack of seriousness of the Chinese investor, unacceptable requests for advance payments, numerous other Chinese requests, etc.) First workers and the equipment arrived from China only in the mid-2011, and at this moment it was clear that the bridge will not be finished before the spring of 2014. The works were also delayed because of the legal problems with a group of families who lived in the Pregrevica neighborhood of Zemun, where the bridge was to cross on the Zemun's bank. The bridge construction costs of €170 million were provided by the

Exim Bank of China The Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim - China Exim Bank) () is one of two institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and prov ...

(85%) and the

Government of Serbia The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, � ...

and the City of Belgrade (15%). The Chinese-built bridge was also China's first big infrastructure investment on the European continent. The total cost of the bridge and the access roads in the end reached €260 million.

Construction

The works began in earnest in the fall of 2011. The inhabitants from Pregrevica were resettled to the neighborhood of

Bele Vode Bele Vode ( sr-cyr, Беле воде, lit. "White Waters") is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica. Location Bele Vode is located in the southwestern part of Belgrade ...

, in the municipality of

Čukarica Čukarica ( sr-cyr, Чукарица, ) is a municipality of the city of Belgrade. Name Like several other neighborhoods of Belgrade, Čukarica was named after kafana. At the present location of the Sugar Refinery, there was a kafana in the secon ...

, in the late 2011 and early 2012. In January 2012, famed film actor

Bata Živojinović Velimir "Bata" Živojinović ( sr-Cyrl, Велимир "Бата" Живојиновић; 5 June 1933 – 22 May 2016) was a Yugoslav and Serbian actor and politician. He appeared in more than 340 films and TV series, and is regarded as one of ...

visited the workers to wish them happy

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

, as his 1972 film

Walter Defends Sarajevo ''Walter Defends Sarajevo'' (; ) is a 1972 Yugoslav partisan film, directed by Hajrudin Krvavac and starring Bata Živojinović, Ljubiša Samardžić and Rade Marković. The film centres around a mysterious figure named 'Walter', who is actively ...

is one of the most popular war movies in China while Živojinović himself was one of the most popular foreign actors in China. In July 2014, the two sides of the bridge were connected and the works continued up to the fall of that year. The bridge was opened by

Premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

Li Keqiang Li Keqiang (born 1 July 1955) is a Chinese politician who is the outgoing premier of China. An economist by profession, Li is head of China's executive branch as well as one of the leading figures behind China's Financial and Economic Affai ...

on 18 December 2014.

Characteristics

The bridge and of new access roads will help to divert heavy traffic from Belgrade city centre. The bridge is designed as two independent bridge structures of three car lanes wide and pedestrian-bicycle paths on both sides.

References

External links