First parts of new Sava bridge to arrive from China in mid-November – Complete structure to be on Sava bank in early 2026

Work on the Sava bridge is proceeding according to schedule. The remains of the old one are being removed, while work is being done on the access roads. The first parts of the steel structure of the new bridge will arrive in a month, and at the beginning of next year, according to the authorities, the complete structure will be on the Sava bank.

Work is underway at four locations on the construction site of the new bridge. One team of workers is removing the pillars of the old bridge, another is installing piles for the new one, and a third is building a temporary dock, where barges with the first parts of the steel structure, which is already in Constanta, are due to arrive from China on November 15.

However, the most important thing is to complete all 108 piles for the new bridge on the Sava, weighing 7,000 tons, on time. 48 have been completed so far. On the New Belgrade side, 33 piles have been completed, as well as one foundation for the first pillar of the new bridge. In the Belgrade Waterfront settlement, the first 18 piles are being drilled and concreted.

– We also expect to continue work on driving piles into the river, which will be used to make chain beams, and after the completion of the enlargement of the main arch of the bridge, which is expected in the middle of next year, the new bridge structure will be lowered onto barges via chain beams – explains Lazar Pavic, bridge engineer for the company Power China.

Special machines, which are placed on barges, are working on the pillars of the old bridge. On the first, which was demolished, an excavator is removing the remains of concrete and reinforcement from the bottom. The foundations of the second pillar are being broken up, and the third still needs to be cut and removed.

– The pillar closest to the New Belgrade side will fit into the area of the pillar that has now been completely demolished, and the pillar closer to the Belgrade side will be between the pillar that is about to start being demolished and the bank – specifies Vladimir Vujic from Mostogradnja.

The construction of the piles and the two pillars that are in the river, according to engineer Pavic, is expected by the end of the year.

– The first pile driving in the river will begin at the end of this year and these piles will probably be carried out sometime in the next six months – says Pavic.

First, experts from the Demining Center search the riverbed and banks. The first time divers did this was more than 10 years ago, when the design of the new bridge on the Sava River began. Then they found an unexploded air bomb and three artillery shells and everything was safely removed.

– The dynamics of the Demining Center’s work are such that we fit in with construction works, where the need for construction drilling for subsequent piles is expressed, the Demining Center conducts soil testing, hands it over to them and then they do their work – says Zoran Stevanovic from the Demining Center of the Republic of Serbia.

Power Construction Corporation of China Limited Ogranak Beograd

Centar za razminiranje Beograd

Mostogradnja a.d. Beograd

Power China

Lazar Pavić

Vladimir Vujić

Zoran Stevanović

Old Sava Bridge Belgrade

new Sava bridge Belgrade