Apprehensions about the Pancevo Bridge again – Roads of Serbia announce that statics were not tested for protests, but what about rows of vehicles during rush hour?

This Friday's General Strike, in addition to the many news stories about companies, institutions, agricultural associations and others who joined the students’ demands, was quite undoubtedly, unfortunately, marked by the fact that a student was hit by a car during a protest in Jurija Gagarina Street, who, as the media reported, suffered serious head injuries and was transferred to the Emergency Center. As the media subsequently reported, she is in stable condition and is communicating.

However, one of the news stories having to do with the General Strike, which was also reported by eKapija, went by almost unnoticed, and could be the cause of a new major tragedy in Serbia.

To clarify, during the General Strike on Friday, the PE Roads of Serbia issued a statement warning that they did not recommend blocking the Pancevo Bridge because the statics for such a load had not been tested.

– Regarding the announcements in some media that a gathering of citizens on the Pancevo Bridge and a blockade of the bridge have been announced for today, the PE Roads of appeals to the entire public and participants of the gathering that such an intensity of dynamic load has not been statically verified, and therefore a blockade and gathering on the bridge structure itself or on the access structures is not recommended. Due to the damage to the structure in the previous period, urgent work was carried out to support the most damaged areas and the traffic load was limited to 12 tons of total mass, and only under these conditions has the bridge been checked and is safe for use – says the announcement by the PE Roads of Serbia.

Incidentally, after the tragedy in Novi Sad, the authorities in Serbia began inspecting and closing certain public spaces and buildings whose poor condition, which threatens safety, citizens have been warning about for years. As eKapija wrote at the time, there are several buildings and places in Belgrade alone that citizens use with trepidation every day, which are wearing away, falling off and collapsing, including the Pancevo Bridge.

When it comes to it, there are overlapping jurisdictions when it comes to the maintenance and future reconstruction of this rather dilapidated structure. Citizens who use it every day are afraid to cross it and they have been asking the authorities for years to finally make this bridge a priority for reconstruction.

Those in charge, as eKapija wrote, respond that the Pancevo Bridge is safe to use, that it is regularly inspected, but that its detailed reconstruction is not possible before the construction of the bridge on Ada Huja. But that bridge, which has been transferred from one city budget to another for years, is now no longer among the city’s priority projects. In the meantime, all that remains is to hope that the fences of this bridge, whose unfitness has been warned about by traffic experts, will not be broken through by another truck or other vehicle, as has happened in previous years.

Incidentally, the vehicle movement regime across the Pancevo Bridge was changed at the end of 2021.

– On the state road I B class number 47, on the Pancevo Bridge, a ban on the movement of vehicles whose total weight exceeds 12 tons is in force. Detour from the direction of Pancevo and Zrenjanin: Pupin Bridge-interchange T6, i.e. Zmaj-Belgrade Bypass Route-Bubanj Potok- entrance to the city via Medakovic-Vojislava Ilica Street-Gospodara Vucica Street-Kralja Aleksandra Blvd-Batutova Street- Dimitrija Tucovica Street-Port of Belgrade. The ban applies to heavy freight vehicles (it does not apply to city and intercity transport) – it was announced in a statement dated October 25, 2021, which is still available in the Condition on State Roads section.

Although this ban is in force, one of eKapija’s sources, M. J. (35), who crosses the Pancevo Bridge twice a day for work, says that heavy freight vehicles are not really there, but that the situation on the bridge during rush hour is not at all to be ignored.

– The train runs regularly even when there is a “traffic jam” on the Pancevo Bridge due to an accident. So, there’s a full bridge of vehicles (one side), plus a train. And as for trucks, I know that since the year before last, freight traffic has been redirected to Pupin Bridge – says eKapija’s source.

When asked if she fears for her safety when crossing this bridge every day, especially after this announcement by the Roads of Serbia, she said the following:

– Honestly, I often think about it, especially when it starts shaking while the traffic is at a standstill, and a train is passing at that time – she told eKapija.

There are certainly those who are not thinking about it, because – they definitely have to use public transport there, or it is easier for them not to think about it, or they are simply optimistic, but this question of the safety of the Pancevo Bridge after the announcement by the Roads of Serbia has been asked by many who cross it even only once in a while.

No one seems to have calculated the weight of the fully loaded public transport vehicles at that moment, nor how many of them are on the bridge during those daily rush hours. Not to mention the situations when there is an accident near or on the bridge...

However, we do not know whether the bridge blockades announced for next week will perhaps push the authorities to put this bridge at the top of the priority list, but perhaps this statement by the Roads of Serbia is a kind of appeal. Or maybe just a warning of the “we told you so” type – in case some accidents happen. Or maybe an attempt to deter the blockades on the bridge. For now, we can only guess...

D. S. G.

JP Putevi Srbije Beograd

Roads of Serbia

Pancevo Bridge

General Strike

protests

bridge blockade

ban on freight traffic

Pancevo Bridge safety

Pancevo Bridge train