The public call for tenders for the selection of contractors for the development of the main design and construction of an interstate bridge over the Tara River that will connect Šćepan Polje in Montenegro and Hum in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been officially announced, announced the Minister of Transport Maja Vukićević.
Today, she visited the location of the future bridge and held a meeting with the Minister of Transport of the Republika Srpska, Nedeljko Čubrilović, Deputy Minister of Communications and Transport of BiH, Zoran Andrić, Acting Director of the Public Enterprise "Roads of the Republika Srpska" Miroslav Janković, and Director of the Transport Administration of Montenegro, Radomir Vuksanović.
As announced by the Ministry of Transport, the meeting confirmed full political and technical commitment to the implementation of this strategically important infrastructure project, which, as they stated, has regional significance and contributes to better connectivity and traffic safety between Montenegro and BiH.
It is stated that the bridge will be built based on the Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the Council of Ministers of BiH, which was signed on July 5, 2021 in Kranj, and confirmed by Law in March last year.
"The agreement provides for equal financing of the construction of the bridge, the costs of developing the main project, supervision of the execution of the works and the arrangement of the riverbed, in a ratio of 50:50," the Ministry of Transport explained.
Vukićević said that the bridge, 165 meters long and 11,2 meters wide, represents a key connection between the two countries.
"The tender is being conducted in two phases, technical and financial, and if there are no complaints, we expect to have a selected contractor by October," said Vukićević.
As stated in the statement, in accordance with the signed Agreement, BiH will reconstruct and build a section of the road from Foča to the bridge, 18 kilometers (km) long, while Montenegro will build 2,5 km of road from the bridge to the future joint border crossing at the Paklice location.
Vukićević said that the bridge is not just an infrastructure facility, but a bridge of cooperation, development and the European perspective of the region.
"As part of the Trans-European Road Network, it forms an important link in connecting Montenegro and BiH, but also the wider Western Balkan region," said Vukićević.
She also announced the completion of works on the Jasenovo Polje–Zaborje section, as well as the planned reconstruction of the remaining 45 km of road to the border with BiH.
"This will significantly improve the entire Podgorica-Šćepan Polje route in terms of safety and comfort for all traffic participants," the statement concludes.
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