Peljesac Bridge

Until 2022 the only road from the rest of Croatia to Dubrovnik ran through about nine kilometres of Bosnian territory at Neum, which meant border checks in both directions and, after Croatia joined the European Union, an external frontier cutting the country in two. The bridge fixes that: 2,404 metres across the Mali Ston bay between Komarna and the Peljesac peninsula, on six spans carried by pylons standing in soft seabed that required piles driven very deep. It was built by a Chinese consortium with most of the cost met from European Union funds and opened in July 2022, and the drive south is now continuous.

History

Because a short strip of coast around Neum belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina, southern Dalmatia was cut off from the rest of Croatia by land, and anyone driving from Dubrovnik to the north passed two border checks within 9 kilometres. The bridge was first publicly proposed in 1997 by Ivan Šprlje, then prefect of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, entered the county's spatial plan in 2000, and preparatory works were opened in November 2005, with a tender following in 2007. Construction proper began on 30 July 2018, the two halves were joined on 28 July 2021, and the bridge and its access roads opened on 26 July 2022; the Ston bypass, which lets buses and heavy lorries use it, followed on 19 April 2023 (Wikipedia, Pelješac Bridge).

The main sights

• A 2,404 metre crossing - between the mainland and Peljesac.
• The Neum problem solved - no more border checks to reach Dubrovnik.
• Deep piles in soft seabed - the engineering the site demanded.
• Opened in July 2022 - largely funded by the European Union.

When to go

Year round; the viewpoints at either end are always open. An hour.

Things to know

There is nowhere to stop on the bridge itself - viewing means the laybys and villages at either end. It is a piece of infrastructure, not a monument, and ten minutes covers looking at it. The road it feeds is busy in summer.

Nearby

Ston and its walls are along the peninsula; the Neretva delta is north.

Key facts