Gazela Bridge

Gazela Bridge
Mост Газела
Most Gazela
Carries 6 lanes of the E70 and E75
Crosses Sava river
Characteristics
Design Beam and arch, shallow-frame beam, diagonal steel-concrete abutments
Total length 332 m
Width 27.5 m
Height 22.8 m
Longest span ~260 m
History
Designer Milan Đurić
Construction start 1966
Construction end 1970
Statistics
Daily traffic 160,000

The Gazela Bridge (Serbian: Mост Газела, translit. Most Gazela) is the most important bridge over the Sava river in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a part of the city highway and it lies on European route E75, on the highway passing through the wider city center, connecting Belgrade with Niš to the south, and Novi Sad to the north. The bridge was designed by a group of engineers led by Milan Đurić, and built by the Mostogradnja company.

Characteristics

The bridge is 332 m (1,089 ft) long and 27.5 m (90 ft) wide, with three lanes in each direction, and total road width of 21.8 m (72 ft). It is constructed as a combination of beam and arch, with shallow-frame beam and diagonal steel-concrete abutments. The maximum height of the span centre is 22.8 m (75 ft) at median water level.

Immediately after the opening in 1970, a defect was noticed. Due to the miscalculations, the metallic construction began to depress in the middle of the bridge. By the 2010 reconstruction, it became visible both by watching the bridge from the side or crossing it. In order to alleviate the problem, on the metallic sections of the bridge, the concrete shoulders were replaced with the lighter, metallic ones.[1]

Traffic

The bridge is the main connection between downtown Belgrade and New Belgrade, and also carries the transit traffic on E70 and E75 highways through Serbia. As such, it is extremely overloaded and a cause of frequent congestion, as it leans on the main Belgrade's Mostar interchange. On average over 165,000[1] vehicles cross it every day (notwithstanding the impeded flow), even though it was designed to be used by 38,000.[2] However, the bridge was almost completely redone in 2011 and it now supports up to 200,000 vehicles per day. Additional relief is expected when the Belgrade bypass is completed, which is currently under construction and was scheduled to be opened in 2013. There was also a significant relief when the new Ada Bridge was opened for traffic, on 1 January 2012.

Overview of the three Belgrade bridges: Gazela Bridge, Old Railroad Bridge, and New Railroad Bridge.

2010-11 reconstruction

In 2004, Minister for construction Dragoslav Šumarac warned that the bridge, especially the steel construction, is in a bad shape and that immediate reconstruction is needed.[1] The bridge's overhaul started in the first half of 2010 and was finished in the second half of 2011. This is the first major reconstruction of the bridge since its completion in 1970. As the bridge is part of the E75 International Road (motorway), there were traffic rushes throughout the day. It would sometimes an hour just to cross the bridge. Vehicles over 3.5 tons were prohibited from entering the city if in transit, and were instead diverted to the Belgrade bypass. However, as the Belgrade Bypass is only half completed, this posed a challenge for some truck drivers. To make matters worse, the bridge has been closed in its entirety for 7 days, causing unprecedented traffic chaos in Belgrade. To speed up the reconstruction, hundreds of workers were on the bridge 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a result, the bridge's overhaul was completed in record time.

Since its reconstruction, city officials stated the bridge would be able to handle 200,000 vehicles daily for the next 40 years.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Marko Lakić, Nikola Miković (30 March 2009), "Preko „Gazele” na prstima", Politika (in Serbian)
  2. ↑ Nikola Miković (10 September 2008), "„Gazela” u kritičnom stanju", Politika (in Serbian)
  3. ↑ "Gazela spremna i za 200,000 vozila". Večernje novosti. 12 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.

Sources

Media related to Gazela bridge at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 44°48′11″N 20°26′28″E / 44.803°N 20.441°E / 44.803; 20.441

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