The incredible new £350m bridge that is set to bypass a major European country

When the former Yugoslavia broke up into seven smaller republics in the 1990s, a 12-mile stretch of coastline was allocated to Bosnia and Herzegovina, encapsulating the city of Neum. This corridor effectively cuts Croatia, with its 4,000 miles of coastline, into two parts, with Dubrovnik on one side and Split on the other.

This situation proved challenging for tourists eager to visit the stunning medieval walled city, made famous by HBO’s Game of Thrones, as travelling down the Croatian coast required crossing two international borders within just 5.6 miles.

In 1996, Bosnia and Herzegovina and signed the Neum Agreement, allowing Croatia passage through Neum, but the agreement was never ratified.

For many years, security was relaxed, with tour buses able to pass through Neum without stopping. However, when Croatia joined the in 2013, tighter border security and lengthy traffic jams became a new problem for tourists during the summer.

After Croatia joined the Schengen Area in 2023, checks became even more rigorous and time-consuming, with checks at both ends, not just upon exiting. Therefore, someone travelling from Dubrovnik to mainland Croatia through Neum would undergo three distinct border checks: a Croatian (Schengen) exit check, a Bosnian-Herzegovinian entry check, and a Croatian (Schengen) entry check

In a bid to find a solution, Croatia has built the 2,400-metre Peljesac Bridge from Komarna on the northern mainland to the southeastern semi-exclave, the Peljesac peninsula, bypassing Neum entirely. This means it passes solely through Croatian territory, avoiding any international border crossings.

The move sparked protests from Bosnia-Herzegovinians, who argued that it could complicate ship traffic if Neum ever turned into a major port city. However, for now, the nation’s only sea access remains a tranquil beach resort town.

The construction of the Peljesac Bridge began in 2007 but was halted due to the global financial crisis, leaving only a few concrete footings for an extended period. In June 2017, The European Commission announced that £297 million would be made available for the bridge and its supporting infrastructure.

The EU contribution would cover 85 percent of the total construction costs, with the aim of boosting tourism, trade and territorial cohesion. In January 2018, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), which had offered nearly £232 million to be a bridge construction tender, won the bid.

Construction resumed in July 2018 and the bridge was connected almost exactly three years later. The Peljesac Bridge and its access roads were opened for traffic the following year, on July 26, 2022.

The Ston bypass road then opened in April 2023, allowing buses, heavy trucks and those carrying hazardous loads to use the bridge.

The original design of the bridge in 2007 featured a main span of 568 metres, but this was later modified. The final structure is a multi-span cable-stayed bridge with a total length of 2,404 metres, comprising 13 spans, seven of which are cable-stayed, five central spans of 285 metres and two outer spans of 203.5 metres.

Two pylons situated around the 200-metre by 55-metre navigation channel stand at 98 metres above sea level and 222 metres above the seabed.

The project sparked controversy among Croatian environmental activists who feared potential harm to marine life and mariculture in the Bay of Mali Ston. In October 2015, it was confirmed that a cross-border consultation had been conducted to assess the bridge’s impact.

Traffic flow on the bridge varies significantly throughout the year, with the summer months seeing the highest number of crossings. In August 2022, approximately 455,000 vehicles crossed the bridge.

By late June 2023, the bridge had seen two million crossings, and this figure rose to three million by September.