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 , p ...

River in Belgrade,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

. 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. 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 Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin ( sr-Cyrl, Михајло Идворски Пупин, ; 4 October 1858Although Pupin's birth year is sometimes given as 1854 (and Serbia and Montenegro issued a postage stamp in 2004 to commemorate the 150th anniversary o ...

. 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 t ...

, 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 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 provi ...

(85%) and the Government of Serbia and the

City of Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 million ...

(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, 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 seco ...

, in the late 2011 and early 2012. In January 2012, famed film actor Bata Živojinović visited the workers to wish them happy Chinese New Year, 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 active ...

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 Li Keqiang 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