China-built Danube bridge in Serbia to be up and running on time

The bridge spanning the Danube river, which is being built by a Chinese company in Belgrade, capital of Serbia, was to be completed in December as expected, Serbian deputy Prime Minister Zorana Mihajlovic said on Tuesday.

Mihajlovic said that the 1.5-km-long bridge will be open for traffic in December 2014, while in October 2015 the whole project including 21 km of access roads will be completed.

The bridge connects the Belgrade city municipalities of Zemun and Borca over the Danube is being built by the Chinese company, China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).

Zhang Xiaoyuan, general director of the company's branch in Serbia, said that the works started in 2010 and "have advanced as planned so far, and the cooperation with Serbian government, city of Belgrade and the planners that worked on this project was excellent."

Li Manchang, Chinese ambassador to Serbia, expressed certainty that the bridge will be finished on time, adding that the "economic cooperation between Serbia and China will prove to be even more successful in the future." 
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
3/9/14
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• Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year

Chinese-built bridge in Serbia to open this year

The Bridge over the Danube in Serbian capital, Belgrade, built by Chinese company CRBC would be open in December this year, Serbian Minister of Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced after inspecting the work progress with the Chinese ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang on Wednesday.

Li Manchang and Zorana Mihajlovic toured the building site on Wednesday to determine that works at the popularly called Chinese bridge that ought to connect Belgrade's municipalities of Zemun and Borca are going just as planned.

Construction progresses as planed and Serbian government expects that the bridge will be open by the end of December,? Mihajlovic said, adding that the subcontractors announced possibility of even finishing before deadline.

Once finished, the bridge will significantly influence reducing jams in Serbian capital by redirecting cargo transport from the city's centre, on a detour towards the main highway. She said that the connections of the future bridge with local roads will be finished during next year in a total length of 21 kilometers.

• The bridge over the Danube presents the second bridge over the European Union's longest river on its flow through the Serbian capital.

• Once finished, the new six-lane bridge will be 1.5 kilometers long, 30-meter wide and will overarch the Danube at an altitude of 23 meters.

Li said that the bridge over the Danube, popularly called Chinese bridge is just one of the many large infrastructural projects between Serbia and China, and expressed his confidence that the construction will meet the deadlines.

He added that that he hopes that many more large projects will be realized by Chinese companies in Serbia.
Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
7/8/14

Two people die and 19 injured in overhead-road span collapse in Brazil's Belo Horizonte

Two people died and 19 were injured as a result of the collapse of an overhead-road span in Brazil's Belo Horizonte where a semifinal match is due to be played at the World Soccer Cup Finals. 


According to reports reaching here, a concrete framework section fell, pinning down part of the passenger compartment of a bus which was riding under the overpass bridge span, and smashing a car. 


This refers to a high-speed bus-service road in the administrative center of Minas-Gerais state. 

The site where the bridge span collapsed is located not far from the Mineirao Stadium where winners of a Brazil versus Colombia match (to be played on July 5) and France vs. Germany (July 4) one are to meet on the night from July 8 to 9 in a semifinal match.
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/738983
3-4/7/14
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Emergency declared, bridges down after heavy rain hits villages in Vidin area in Bulgaria

A state of emergency has been declared in the municipality of Ruzhintsi in Bulgaria after torrential rain inundated the area, also flooding villages in the Vidin area, damaging bridges, private property and roads.

The emergency was announced after an April 24 special meeting at Ruzhintsi municipal headquarters of the crisis staff headed by Vidin deputy regional governor Nikolai Todorov.

Overnight, about 60 people were evacuated after the heavy rain in recent days flooded the villages of Gyurgich and Pleshivets.

While Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry said that there had been no serious damage, public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television reported that the mayors of the affected villages said that a house had been destroyed, yards flooded, cars deluged and bridges had collapsed.

• Separate reports said that 10 bridges had been destroyed in the Ruzhintsi area because of the pouring rain that began in the area on April 18 and was continuing on April 24.

• The bridges that were destroyed were in the villages of Ruzhintsi, Byalo Pove, Drenovets, Pleshivets, Roglets and Drazhintsi.

A disaster was declared in Chouprene Municipality on April 20 after the Gorni Lom River overflowed its banks.

• Overflowing dams flooded dozens of houses in Vidin overnight, bTV reported.

Meanwhile, coloured rain fell overnight in Bulgaria, a phenomenon resulting from sand being borne from the Sahara by a cyclone that formed over northern Africa earlier in the week and which has been moving north-east, and was reportedly centred over Albania and Macedonia on April 24.

The Bulgarian Academy of Science said that the rain was not harmful.
[sofiaglobe.com]
24/4/14
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• Επιφυλακή στον Έβρο για ενδεχόμενο πλημμυρών

• Ευρωπαϊκός Οργανισμός Περιβάλλοντος: Έρχονται ακραία καιρικά φαινόμενα στην Ευρώπη

Kerch bridge will be designed for cars and trains. Underwater tunnel is optional. - ministry

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the country’s Transportation Ministry on Wednesday to launch the construction of two bridges over the Kerch Strait.
“We need there two bridges both for automobile and railway transportation,” Putin said addressing a session with the members of the Russian government.
Russian Transport minister Maxim Sokolov told the president that there was also a variant of constructing a transportation tunnel under the Kerch Strait.

The Kerch Strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov at the same time separating Russia’s Taman Peninsula and the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea. The strait ranges in its width between 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) and 15 kilometers (9.3 miles), and is up to 18 meters (almost 60 feet) deep.
Transport minister Maksim Sokolov has also added that Russia’s transport links with Crimea are operating without disruptions.
According to the minister, currently there are seven pairs of passenger trains running between Moscow and Crimea. Also, there are three flights from Moscow a day. If it needed, the number of flights may be increased to fourteen, he said.
http://en.itar-tass.com
19/3/14
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Strait of Kerch:Google Maps

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In pics: bridge collapse accident site in central China (VIDEO 1/2/13)

A part of the expressway viaduct collapsed on Friday morning in an explosion of a truck-load of fireworks. Ten people died and 11 others were injured in the accident. The expressway viaduct, with bidirectional four lanes, opened to traffic in 2001 after three years of construction. The last test in 2011 revealed no safety risks. Li Qiang, chief engineer of Henan Provincial Transportation Department, said that the bridge had passed biennially and monthly inspections and was up to the standards of the national expressway viaduct.


In face of the public concerns, Wang Baixing, China's renowned bomb-disposal expert, said the power of the blast on the truck that carried fireworks and firecrackers was equivalent to one ton of explosive and explained that the explosion occurred on special part of the viaduct, blowing off the upper structure of the bridge and pulling down one of its piers.
.peopledaily.com.cn
3/2/13
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VIDEO (1/2/13)