The Gazela Bridge ( Serbian : Mост Газела , romanized : 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.
26-468: The name of the bridge, gazela is Serbian for "gazelle". Đorđe Lazarević, who was president of the competition commission, said that "this bridge leaped over the Sava like a jumping gazelle", and the name stuck. Already by 1968, two years before the bridge was completed, the name appeared in news reports. In the late 2010s there were proposals to rename the bridge after Branko Pešić , mayor of Belgrade during
52-468: 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. The state and the city government had different opinions when the reconstruction
78-435: A deck across the top of them, to a main beam either side supporting a deck between them. The main beams could be I-beams , trusses , or box girders . They could be half-through , or braced across the top to create a through bridge . Because no moments are transferred, thrust (as from an arch bridge ) cannot be accommodated, leading to innovative designs, such as lenticular trusses and bow string arches , which contain
104-494: A design by Milan Đurić was selected. Construction of the bridge began in 1966 and it was built by the companies Mostogradnja and Goša. It was finished in 4 years. The two sides of the bridge were physically connected on 17 December 1969. The testing of the bridge was directly broadcast by the Radio Television Belgrade . Citizens joked saying that the truck drivers who tested the bridge should be equipped with
130-967: A member and secretary of the Committee of the Communist Party of Serbia for Zemun, the SKOJ Committee secretary for Zemun and Belgrade , member and secretary of the City Committee for the League of Communists of Serbia and the president of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia City Council for Belgrade. He was also a member of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the People's Youth of Serbia,
156-435: 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
182-409: Is in a bad shape and that immediate reconstruction is needed. The main carrier of the bridge turned out to be cracked in 2010 so the reconstruction had to start immediately. Additional 1,500 tons of steel and other materials was used to strengthen the construction. 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
208-542: Is often referred to as the golden age of Belgrade for which he was nicknamed the Pericles from Zemun. Pešić married twice. From his first marriage with professor Zagorka Golubović he had a daughter named Branislava and from his second marriage with Desanka Desa Pešić he had a son Lazar and a daughter Sofija. During his lifetime, he was awarded many Yugoslav awards including the Commemorative Medal of
234-703: The Mostar interchange , Gazela Bridge , Terazije Tunnel and the Beograđanka among others. During his tenure, the ambitious plan of lowering Belgrade onto its surrounding rivers (Belgrade on the Sava) was introduced along with initiating the Belgrade railway junction and the Belgrade Metro . For a time, his economic advisor was Slobodan Milošević after his graduation from university in 1966. Pešić's tenure as mayor
260-826: The Republic Assembly of SR Serbia and the SFR Yugoslavia Assembly numerous times. He was chosen as a member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia at the Fourth and Fifth Congresses of the party. He also served as president of the Football Association of Yugoslavia from 1953–1955 and 1956–1957. Pešić was Mayor of Belgrade from 1965 to 1974 and was one of the most popular mayors of Belgrade. During his tenure, many important buildings were built such as
286-673: The Yugoslav Partisans during the Second World War and was the Mayor of Belgrade from 1965 to 1974. He is widely remembered as one of the most popular Belgrade mayors as his decade-long tenure saw the construction and completion of many important projects. Pešić was born on 1 October 1922 in Zemun to father Dimitrije "Mita" (1900–1976) and mother Anka (1897–1983). He completed elementary school in Zemun and high school at
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#1732783479348312-891: The Zemun Gymnasium . After that he studied law at the University of Belgrade . As a student of the Zemun Gymnasium, he joined the youth revolutionary movement and became a member of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ). After the invasion and occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941, he left his studies and joined the anti-fascist movement in Yugoslavia. He first worked politically in occupied Zemun and its surroundings where he took part in preparing and organizing sabotages and diversions against
338-602: The diving suits . The bridge was ceremonially opened by the President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito and mayor of Belgrade Branko Pešić on 4 December 1970. On that same day, apart from the bridge, a highway through Belgrade, the Mostar Interchange and the Terazije Tunnel were all open. In 2004, Minister for construction Dragoslav Šumarac warned that the bridge, especially the steel construction,
364-609: The horizontal forces within the superstructure . Beam bridges are not limited to a single span . Some viaducts such as the Feiyunjiang Bridge in China have multiple simply supported spans supported by piers. This is opposed to viaducts using continuous spans over the piers. Beam bridges are often only used for relatively short distances because, unlike truss bridges, they have no built in supports. The only supports are provided by piers. The farther apart its supports,
390-471: The occupying forces . He later joined the Yugoslav Partisans where he entered into Bosnia as a member of the Vojvodina Brigades. During the war he was a political commissar and battalion commander. He became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) in 1942. After the end of the war, he graduated from the Đuro Đaković Political School and had various political functions. He was
416-748: The Partisans of 1941 among others. He was awarded the Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour on 24 January 1986. Pešić died due to cancer on 4 February 1986 and is interred in a family plot in the Zemun Cemetery . A street in Zemun, near his family home, bears his name. The elementary school in Zemun has also been named after him. Beam bridge Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout
442-439: 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. 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
468-544: 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 take 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
494-492: The bridge's construction, but the name wasn't changed. By the mid-1960s a need for another road bridge across the Sava was apparent as the only bridge, built in 1956, was Branko's Bridge . The idea behind the new bridge was to connect parts of the Brotherhood and Unity Highway . The most distinguished engineers were summoned to choose the best project. Between the projects submitted on the architectural design competition ,
520-404: The main Belgrade's Mostar interchange . On average over 165,000 vehicles cross it every day (notwithstanding the impeded flow), even though it was designed to be used by 38,000. 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. There
546-820: The president of the Zemun City Municipality Assembly from 1955 to 1958, an instructor in the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Serbia, secretary for commodity traffic in the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Serbia and the Vice- President of the Presidency of SR Serbia . He was also President of the Assembly of SR Serbia from 1982 to 1984. He was chosen as a Member of Parliament of
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#1732783479348572-596: The support, hence their structural type is known as simply supported . The simplest beam bridge could be a log (see log bridge ), a wood plank , or a stone slab (see clapper bridge ) laid across a stream. Bridges designed for modern infrastructure will usually be constructed of steel or reinforced concrete , or a combination of both. The concrete elements may be reinforced or prestressed . Such modern bridges include girder , plate girder , and box girder bridges, all types of beam bridges. Types of construction could include having many beams side by side with
598-472: Was also a significant relief when the new Ada Bridge was opened for traffic, on 1 January 2012. [REDACTED] Media related to Gazela bridge at Wikimedia Commons Branko Pe%C5%A1i%C4%87 Branko Pešić ( Serbian Cyrillic : Бранко Пешић , pronounced [brâːŋko pěʃitɕ] ; 1 October 1922 – 4 February 1986) was a Serbian politician in SFR Yugoslavia . Pešić was a member of
624-429: Was free of charge during that time. But the drivers continued using the partially closed Gazela nevertheless, causing jams. Since its reconstruction, city officials stated the bridge would be able to handle 200,000 vehicles daily for the next 40 years. 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
650-590: Was no overall delay. As a result of the reconstruction, the traffic congestion was massive and regular, with jams stretching all the way to the Autokomanda and Dušanovac neighborhoods. Just prior to the reconstruction, the city has expanded the Savska street, which is connected to the Gazela, and during the works, the city government pleaded to drivers to use other bridges and even the city's commuter rail Beovoz
676-532: Was to start. The state insisted that the works should start as soon as possible, due to the bad shape of the bridge, while the city thought it would be better to finish the Ada Bridge first and then work on the Gazela. During the works, European Investment Bank withdrew the funds as they didn't approve how the problem of the informal settlement of the Cardboard city below the bridge was handled. Still, there
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