Pancevo Bridge
Encyclopedia
Pančevo Bridge or colloquially Pančevac (Serbian
: Панчевачки мост, Pančevački most) is the only bridge over the Danube
in Belgrade
, the capital of Serbia
. It was named after the northern Serbian city of Pančevo
(in Vojvodina
) which is connected to Belgrade by the road continuing from the bridge.
and Banat
(Pančevački Rit
). The driveways for the bridge begin already in the neighborhoods of Bogoslovija
(roundabout
at Mije Kovačevića street) and Ada Huja
(Višnjička street) and direct approach begins from the Boulevard of Despot Stefan . The bridge spawns over the neighborhood of Viline Vode
, the Danube (approximately at 1,166 kilometer of the river ) and lands on the Banat side in the neighborhood of Krnjača
, between the sub-neighborhoods of Blok Braća Marić and Blok Branko Momirov.
of Yugoslavia
, Pavle Karađorđević
and named after the still minor King of Yugoslavia, Petar II
(Most Kralja Petra II). After German attack on Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941 in the course of the World War II
, Yugoslav army command decided to blow up all three existing bridges in Belgrade (two over the Sava and one over the Danube) in a vain attempt to slow down the German army
advancement. The Bridge of King Petar II was destroyed in the night between April 10 and 11 1941.
Germans
repaired the bridge for their purposes during the period of occupation 1941-1944. In spring of 1944 Allied
Anglo
-American
bombing of Belgrade began. The bridge was hit and damaged in the bombings of April 16 and September 3, 1944. When Germans began to withdraw from Belgrade in October 1944, Germans destroyed the bridge themselves.
Reconstruction of the bridge began in 1945, upstream from the remnants of the destroyed supporting pillars. Plans were done by the 50 Russia
n engineers, headed by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Golovko (1897-1956), lieutenant general
of the Red Army
's technical troops. Joseph Stalin
's orders were that they should build a provisory crossing rather than an expensive railway bridge, but Josip Broz Tito
convinced him that proper bridge should be made. On November 7, 1946 first train passed over the new bridge and regular road traffic started three weeks later, on November 29. Originally, Tito named it the Bridge of the Red Army (Most Crvene Armije) .
After 20 years, in 1965, the bridge had a last major renovation. Not counting the Đerdap dams on the Romania
n border, Pančevo Bridge was the only bridge over the Danube in Serbia that wasn't destroyed by the NATO aviation during the bombing of Serbia from March 24 to June 12, 1999.
, and Luxemburgische Bergwerks und Hütten A.G. from Dortmund
. First company supplied the pillars for the bridge. Work of these two companies was a part of the reparations Germany had to pay to Serbia for the damages committed during the World War I
.
In 1946, the bridge was originally intended to be just a railway bridge but later it was opened for the road traffic, too. Today, it has two lanes in both directions for road traffic, and even though it was designed to have two rail tracks as well, at the moment there is only one rail track on the bridge.
Total length of the steel
made bridge is 1,526.4 meters, of which 1,134,7 meters is over the river bed. The height of the main supporting pillars is 18 meters.
After crossing into Krnjača, the bridge continues as a road which splits in two directions:
There are railway stations "Pančevački most" on the Belgrade, and "Krnjača", on the Krnjača side of the bridge. Both stations are part of Beovoz
commuter rail which connects area between the town of Stara Pazova
in Syrmia
region of the Vojvodina, Belgrade and Pančevo as this entire area forms a wider metropolitan area of Belgrade.
After 2000, a general consensus was reached that new bridges in Belgrade are a necessity. Belgrade almost dubled after 1974 when the last bridge (Gazela
) was built. As for the Pančevački Rit area, which experienced population growth by 10 times since Pančevo Bridge was built, things are getting even more serious as city government has plans (though a distant ones) to move Belgrade Port to the left bank and to began a project of "Third Belgrade" in this area with 300,000-400,000 inhabitants (first one is "Old" Belgrade in Šumadija, second is "New" Belgrade, Novi Beograd
-Zemun
in Syrmia) .
At the moment, even this one bridge is considered to be in a fairly bad shape, as a result of the lack of maintenance and overuse. Public debate grew (not just about this bridge) in both experts and laymen circles, to the point of publicly expressing views in the mass media on a daily basis about future Belgrade bridges. City government plans to do a complete reconstruction of Pančevo Bridge and build three more bridges over the Danube, to relax the traffic over it. One bridge is supposed to be built downstream, to connect Belgrade suburb of Vinča
to Omoljica
in the Pančevo municipality. Second bridge is projected just 1.5 kilometers downstream from Pančevo Bridge and it will connect Ada Huja and Krnjača. Third bridge is to be built upstream and connect neighborhoods of Zemun and Borča
. Until this last bridge is finished, city government proposed a ferry
line instead.
However, as of April 2008, none of the works began. Reconstruction of Pančevo Bridge was scheduled and postponed several times from 2006. So far, it as only announced how the reconstruction will be handled . It is supposed to last for 12 months. The rail traffic will be closed during that time. "Beovoz" would stop on the approaches to the bridge and buses would take passengers to the other side. But the bridge will never be fully closed for the road traffic, because it would cut the only connection of Belgrade across the Danube. Rail tracks will be temporary turned into a road tracks, which would mean the bridge will have six tracks in this period and two will always be closed for reconstruction. Freight traffic will be allowed only at night.
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
: Панчевачки мост, Pančevački most) is the only bridge over the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, the capital of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. It was named after the northern Serbian city of Pančevo
Pancevo
Pančevo is a city and municipality located in the southern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina, 15 km northeast from Belgrade. In 2002, the city had a total population of 77,087, while municipality of Pančevo had 127,162 inhabitants. It is the administrative center of the South Banat...
(in Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
) which is connected to Belgrade by the road continuing from the bridge.
Location
The bridge is located in the Belgrade municipality of Palilula, which is the only municipality in the city that occupies both banks of the Danube. Geographically, it connects two large regions of Serbia, ŠumadijaŠumadija
Šumadija is a geographical region in Serbia. The area is heavily covered with forests, hence the name...
and Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
(Pančevački Rit
Pancevacki Rit
Pančevački Rit is a small geographical area in south-western Banat, Serbia. It is situated between the rivers Danube and Tamiš, in the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.-Features:...
). The driveways for the bridge begin already in the neighborhoods of Bogoslovija
Bogoslovija
Bogoslovija is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is mostly located in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula, with some parts belonging to the municipality of Zvezdara....
(roundabout
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
at Mije Kovačevića street) and Ada Huja
Ada Huja
Ada Huja is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.- Location :...
(Višnjička street) and direct approach begins from the Boulevard of Despot Stefan . The bridge spawns over the neighborhood of Viline Vode
Viline Vode
Viline Vode is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.- Location :...
, the Danube (approximately at 1,166 kilometer of the river ) and lands on the Banat side in the neighborhood of Krnjača
Krnjaca
Krnjača is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.- Location and population :...
, between the sub-neighborhoods of Blok Braća Marić and Blok Branko Momirov.
History
Construction of the original bridge began in 1933. On October 27, 1935 it was inaugurated by the Prince regentPrince Regent
A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....
of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Pavle Karađorđević
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević , was Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the minority of King Peter II. Peter was the eldest son of his first cousin Alexander I...
and named after the still minor King of Yugoslavia, Petar II
Peter II of Yugoslavia
Peter II, also known as Peter II Karađorđević , was the third and last King of Yugoslavia...
(Most Kralja Petra II). After German attack on Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941 in the course of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Yugoslav army command decided to blow up all three existing bridges in Belgrade (two over the Sava and one over the Danube) in a vain attempt to slow down the German army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
advancement. The Bridge of King Petar II was destroyed in the night between April 10 and 11 1941.
Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
repaired the bridge for their purposes during the period of occupation 1941-1944. In spring of 1944 Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
Anglo
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bombing of Belgrade began. The bridge was hit and damaged in the bombings of April 16 and September 3, 1944. When Germans began to withdraw from Belgrade in October 1944, Germans destroyed the bridge themselves.
Reconstruction of the bridge began in 1945, upstream from the remnants of the destroyed supporting pillars. Plans were done by the 50 Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n engineers, headed by Vladimir Aleksandrovich Golovko (1897-1956), lieutenant general
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
of the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's technical troops. Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's orders were that they should build a provisory crossing rather than an expensive railway bridge, but Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
convinced him that proper bridge should be made. On November 7, 1946 first train passed over the new bridge and regular road traffic started three weeks later, on November 29. Originally, Tito named it the Bridge of the Red Army (Most Crvene Armije) .
After 20 years, in 1965, the bridge had a last major renovation. Not counting the Đerdap dams on the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n border, Pančevo Bridge was the only bridge over the Danube in Serbia that wasn't destroyed by the NATO aviation during the bombing of Serbia from March 24 to June 12, 1999.
Technical characteristics
The original bridge was built by the German companies, Siemens-Baunnion GmbH from BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and Luxemburgische Bergwerks und Hütten A.G. from Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
. First company supplied the pillars for the bridge. Work of these two companies was a part of the reparations Germany had to pay to Serbia for the damages committed during the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1946, the bridge was originally intended to be just a railway bridge but later it was opened for the road traffic, too. Today, it has two lanes in both directions for road traffic, and even though it was designed to have two rail tracks as well, at the moment there is only one rail track on the bridge.
Total length of the steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
made bridge is 1,526.4 meters, of which 1,134,7 meters is over the river bed. The height of the main supporting pillars is 18 meters.
Importance
Being the only bridge over the Danube in Belgrade as a result has a 150,000-200,000 vehicles crossing the bridge daily. When bridge was rebuilt in 1946, Pančevački Rit (Belgrade section over the Danube), had a population of 7,998 (1948 Census), Pančevo 26,423 and Belgrade itself 388,246. By the 2002 Census, population is 72,704, 77,087 and 1,120,092, respectively.After crossing into Krnjača, the bridge continues as a road which splits in two directions:
- Pančevo road, 16 kilometers to the east, which leads to the industrial town of PančevoPancevoPančevo is a city and municipality located in the southern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina, 15 km northeast from Belgrade. In 2002, the city had a total population of 77,087, while municipality of Pančevo had 127,162 inhabitants. It is the administrative center of the South Banat...
(after which both the bridge and the road are named) in the province of VojvodinaVojvodinaVojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
. Pančevo is today de-facto an outer suburb of Belgrade - Zrenjanin road, 77 kilometers to the north, which lead to the town of ZrenjaninZrenjaninZrenjanin is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia...
, also in Vojvodina.
There are railway stations "Pančevački most" on the Belgrade, and "Krnjača", on the Krnjača side of the bridge. Both stations are part of Beovoz
Beovoz
Beovoz is a commuter rail that provides mass-transit service within Belgrade metropolitan area in Serbia. The main usage of today's system is to connect the suburbs with downtown Belgrade...
commuter rail which connects area between the town of Stara Pazova
Stara Pazova
Stara Pazova is a town and municipality in Srem District of Vojvodina, Serbia. The town has a population of 18,645, while Stara Pazova municipality has 67,576 inhabitants.-Name:...
in Syrmia
Syrmia
Syrmia is a fertile region of the Pannonian Plain in Europe, between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia in the east and Croatia in the west....
region of the Vojvodina, Belgrade and Pančevo as this entire area forms a wider metropolitan area of Belgrade.
Future
Gazela Bridge
Gazela is the most important bridge in Belgrade, Serbia, across the Sava river. 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...
) was built. As for the Pančevački Rit area, which experienced population growth by 10 times since Pančevo Bridge was built, things are getting even more serious as city government has plans (though a distant ones) to move Belgrade Port to the left bank and to began a project of "Third Belgrade" in this area with 300,000-400,000 inhabitants (first one is "Old" Belgrade in Šumadija, second is "New" Belgrade, Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd
Novi Beograd or New Belgrade is the most populous municipality that constitutes the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is a planned city, built in 1947 on the left bank of the Sava river which was previously an uninhabited area, opposite of the old Belgrade...
-Zemun
Zemun
Zemun is a historical town and one of the 17 municipalities which constitute the City of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia...
in Syrmia) .
At the moment, even this one bridge is considered to be in a fairly bad shape, as a result of the lack of maintenance and overuse. Public debate grew (not just about this bridge) in both experts and laymen circles, to the point of publicly expressing views in the mass media on a daily basis about future Belgrade bridges. City government plans to do a complete reconstruction of Pančevo Bridge and build three more bridges over the Danube, to relax the traffic over it. One bridge is supposed to be built downstream, to connect Belgrade suburb of Vinča
Vinca
Vinca is a genus of six species in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus Catharanthus .-Description:Vinca plants are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have slender trailing stems 1–2 m long...
to Omoljica
Omoljica
Omoljica is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Pančevo municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village population is 6,518 people .-References:...
in the Pančevo municipality. Second bridge is projected just 1.5 kilometers downstream from Pančevo Bridge and it will connect Ada Huja and Krnjača. Third bridge is to be built upstream and connect neighborhoods of Zemun and Borča
Borca
Borča is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in the Belgrade's municipality of Palilula.-Location:...
. Until this last bridge is finished, city government proposed a ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
line instead.
However, as of April 2008, none of the works began. Reconstruction of Pančevo Bridge was scheduled and postponed several times from 2006. So far, it as only announced how the reconstruction will be handled . It is supposed to last for 12 months. The rail traffic will be closed during that time. "Beovoz" would stop on the approaches to the bridge and buses would take passengers to the other side. But the bridge will never be fully closed for the road traffic, because it would cut the only connection of Belgrade across the Danube. Rail tracks will be temporary turned into a road tracks, which would mean the bridge will have six tracks in this period and two will always be closed for reconstruction. Freight traffic will be allowed only at night.