Ada Bridge

About

The Ada Bridge (Serbian, Most na Adi) is a cable-stayed bridge over the Sava River in Belgrade, Serbia. The bridge crosses the tip of Ada Ciganlija island, connecting the municipalities of Čukarica and New Belgrade. The bridge pylon is located at the tip of the island, which has been reinforced with large amounts of concrete and has been slightly enlarged to provide stronger foundations. Construction began in 2008, and the bridge opened on 1 January 2012. Adjoining roads were completed in 2013. Immediately after the design was announced, it polarized both the professionals and politicians. Those who were in favor of the bridge claimed it is the most beautiful and the most functional of all Belgrade bridges, while those against it called it a megalomaniacal, too expensive, and unnecessary. However, since becoming fully operational in 2012, the bridge has become one of the city's symbols and "inescapable décor in music videos and movies", but also in video cards, commercials, etc. It is referred to as the "most representative bridge in the capital". Ada Bridge is the most upstream Belgrade bridge over the Sava river within the urban area. Additionally, the bridge is the only direct connection between the municipalities of New Belgrade (Blokovi) and Čukarica (Banovo Brdo). The bridge pylon is located on the tip of the Ada Ciganlija island. In 1923, architect Đorđe Kovaljevski created the first urbanization plan of the area that envisaged a bridge over Ada Ciganlija. The initial idea of what is today known as the Belgrade Inner City Semi-Ring Road, to which the bridge is an important part, was created at that time. This road was part of several plans under different names, such as the Main Ring Road, Transverse Road, Eastern Tangent Road, each with slightly different routes. All the plans had one thing in common: the Ada Ciganlija Bridge. In early plans, the bridge was placed closer to the Lake, while the final project placed the bridge on the very tip of the island due to ecological concerns about the lake. After World War II, when Belgrade was left without any motorway bridges over the Sava, this route had no precedence, as narrower a

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.