Maslenica Bridge (D8)

44.22482815.53117Koordinaten: 44 ° 13 ' 29.4 " N, 15 ° 31' 52.2 " E

F1

Strait of Maslenica

The Maslenica Bridge [ maslɛnitsa ] ( kroat. Most Maslenica or Maslenički most) is located on the Adriatic highway D8 on the south side of the Velebit mountain range in the Zadar County, not far from the motorway tunnel Sveti Rok. The bridge is known as the strategically - important north-south traffic bottleneck and leads through the Strait of Maslenica ( kroat. Masleničko Ždrilo or Novsko Ždrilo ) near the village of Maslenica at the entrance to the bay of Novigrad ( kroat. Novigradsko more ). Travelers to Dalmatia and Zadar coming through the crossing of the Maslenica bridge benefits from a considerable distance and time savings.

Destruction

Built in 1961 the bridge was traffic- technical- strategic importance. It was the scene of fierce fighting in the Croatian War and was destroyed as part of its on 21 November 1991. During the war years the traffic on a pontoon temporary bridge had to be done, which was released on July 18, 1993 for traffic. Simultaneously the company began construction of a new concrete bridge, the later Maslenica highway bridge. However, another site was selected for the extended, four-lane bridge, a little further north of the original location of the Maslenica bridge. The construction of the highway bridge was driven as a project of highest national priority. The bridge was opened in 1997 formally implemented in the A1 motorway in 2003.

The Maslenica steel bridge was now in the same place of the former Maslenica bridge rebuilt (begun 2004) and on 17 June 2005 and opened to traffic. Today the bridge is, however, only used for regional services, as the majority of the north-south traffic flow via the Maslenica highway bridge on the A1 motorway.

Current usage and climatic conditions

Due to protests by local people against performing a highway toll for the use of the important bridge connection, was the original Maslenica bridge at the old location and rebuilt in nearly the same shape as the former bridge ( two lanes ). The ( original ) Maslenica bridge is on one advantageous because wind sheltered spot when the newly-built motorway bridge. Due to the large climatic differences prevail on the southern side of Velebit in the fall and in the spring of strong katabatic winds before ( Bora ). Therefore, it may happen occasionally that the A1 highway from the exit Maslenica is disabled until the exit Sveti Rok, including the tunnel Sveti Rok, to traffic. In this case, the traffic mostly about the " old" Maslenica Bridge and across the Adriatic highway D8 ( Jadranska Magistrala ) along the villages of Zaton, Obrovac and Gračac is redirected. The Croatian transport authorities are already testing methods to contain the fall winds to ensure uninterrupted maintenance of highway traffic, or that a reorganization of the Maslenica highway bridge and the installation of steel plates for better crosswind stabilization planned.

Data for former Maslenica Bridge

The destroyed Maslenica bridge in 1961 at the narrowest point of the Strait of Maslenica built ( kroat. Masleničko Ždrilo ). The channel width at this point is only 150 m. The total length of the destroyed Maslenica Bridge was once 314 m. The arch span of the bridge was 155 m. The arc height itself was 55 m. Then financed the construction of the community of the road company of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Participating contractors were Pionir, Mostogradnja and two contractors from Belgrade. Hauptkooperant was the steel construction company Metalna from Maribor. The whole construction was made ​​of steel and is, except for a forged part together (so-called mounting ends), welded together. Immediately prior to the destruction in 1991, the bridge was rehabilitated.

Comparative figures for the new bridge

At the geometry, no significant changes have been made compared to the old bridge. The roadway width is now 7.7 meters, instead of the former 7 m. The pavement width has been increased from 1 m to 1.2 m once. The total width of the bridge is now 10.5 m ( 9.4 m once ). The planned construction period is estimated to start of construction to 18 months. Designer of the old bridge was Vojislav Draganić. The designer of the new bridge was Stjepan Storga from the engineering and project company ( kroat. Inženjerski projektni zavod ).