King Alexander Bridge

About

King Alexander Bridge (Serbian: Мост краља Александра, Most kralja Aleksandra), in full The Bridge of King Alexander Karađorđević or The Bridge of the Knightly King Alexander, was a road and tram bridge over the Sava river, in Belgrade, capital of Yugoslavia. It was the first permanent road bridge across the Sava in Belgrade after almost 250 years and the Long Bridge from 1688. Finished in 1934, it was damaged and out of use since 1941, and fully demolished in 1944, during World War II. Its pylons were later used for the modern Branko's Bridge, built in 1956. The bridge was revered while existed being described as "gorgeous" and "one of the most important object ever built in Belgrade".

On the right bank, the bridge was starting at the Sava Port, in the neighborhood of Savamala, a transportation and commercial hub and one of the busiest parts of Belgrade in that period. On the left bank, the bridge entered the still marshy and un-urbanized area where New Belgrade was built after 1948. The bridge continued into the road which connected Belgrade to Zemun, its outer suburb at the time. Belgrade's airport was located on the Zemun side, in Bežanija, built in 1927.

During history, however, there were at least 10 temporary, pontoon bridges on the location of the King Alexander Bridge. They were constructed solely for the purpose of conquering the city during the numerous battles and sieges of Belgrade in history, like in 1521, 1595, 1688 or 1717. The history recorded 5 Austrian and 5 Ottoman pontoon bridges.

Belgrade's first modern bridge was the Old Railroad Bridge, built in 1884. Before Yugoslavia was formed in 1918, the Sava was a border between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. After Yugoslavia was formed, the government and the city began considering the construction of the road bridge. The concessionaires were invited for the first time in 1921. It took nine years for the new state to amass the funds needed for the project: 190 million dinars by the state for the bridge and 30 million dinars by the city for the access roads.

In 1930, an international architectural design competition was set for the road bridge. The winner was a German company Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) from Oberhausen. As the eastern section of the bridge was planned to start in the Sava port area, in the municipality of Savamala, the propositions included the minimal height of 12 m (39 ft) and a single span across the river of at least 250 m (820 ft) so that it wouldn't present an obstacle for the ships passing to the port and turning around under the bridge.

Construction began in July 1930 and was built by a joint venture of the German Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), executing the steel works, and the French company Société de Construction des Batignolles, performing all other works. The total length of the bridge was 474.7 m (1,557 ft). The main construction of the bridge spawned over 411 m (1,348 ft) across the river, with the main span being 261 m (856 ft) long.

The bridge was modeled after the Mülheim Bridge over the Rhine, in Cologne, Germany. The third "twin", based on almost the same project was built in Vienna, Austria, crossing the Danube. The second incarnation of the Reichsbrücke collapsed due to the structural failure on 1 August 1976.

The deadline for the completion was 8 June 1933, but this deadline was prolonged several times for various reasons. The 1931 Hoover Moratorium by the US president Herbert Hoover, suspended the reparation payments, so the procurement of iron construction was delayed. There were major issues with the expropriation of the lots on the Belgrade side, where the access roads were to be built. The area was already fully urbanized and populated with buildings, but the problem was continuously postponed. Underground waters flooded the area in front of the State Printing House building. The problem existed before, but the works on draining the water and construction of the protective wall were conducted only after the construction of the bridge already began, even physically blocking the access to the bridge's construction site.

The joining of the last parts of the iron construction was finished in November 1933, but it took another year to finish the access roads. A sandy beach with the cabins, kafanas and barracks, used as sheds by the fishermen, occupied the area where the access ramp was to be built on the left, Zemun's side. It was one of the favorite vacation spots of Belgraders, occupying the left bank of the Sava, north of the future bridge, in the modern Ušće neighborhood. People were transported from the city by small boats and the starting point was a small kafana "Malo pristanište" in Savamala. The objects were demolished manually, including numerous kafanas: "Ostend", "Zdravlje", "Abadžija", "Jadran", "Krf", "Dubrovnik", "Adrija", etc. The only one that wasn't demolished was "Nica", predecessor of the modern Ušće restaurant. In total, 20 proper objects and 2,000 cabins, barracks, sheds, etc. were demolished, jointly by the municipalities of Zemun and Bežanija, which owned half of the land each, and the proprietors of the objects. The plan was to build an embankment instead. However, the beach itself survived the construction of the bridge in 1934 as it only made access easier. The beach was finally closed in 1938 when the construction of the embankment began. The beach itself was called Nica (Serbian for Nice, in France ) after one of the kafanas.

The supporting pylon on the right bank was built on the ruins of the former mosque, Liman Mosque. The remnants had to be removed first and this was the source of the popular myth after the demolition, that the bridge was cursed.

On 11 and 12 December 1934 the bridge was tested by dozens of city's tank trucks. It was ceremonially open on 16 December with 700 horsemen crossing over it. The unit was combined from the horsemen of the Royal Guards Artillery, Cavalry of the Junior Officers School and Zemun's Students Squad. To prove the high quality of the bridge, they trotted across the bridge four times.

The bridge was officially opened on 16 December 1934. King Alexander, after whom the bridge was named, was assassinated on 9 October 1934 in Marseille, France, so the bridge was open by the Prince Regent Paul. By the 1931 census Belgrade had a population of 266,849 while the west bank was not urbanized yet and still some 150,000 citizens crossed the bridge on the opening day. Roš was convincing the people that it is "normal" for the bridge to swing 13 cm (5.1 in) and that it was perfectly safe. The press noted that bridge was swinging like a toy on springs under only 350 tons during the cavalry testing, even though it was designed to carry 25,000 tons, but also reassured public that this is normal and that bridge is the work of art of modern technology.

Two days after the opening, the official barge-ferry line Belgrade-Zemun was discontinued.

Belgrade's first modern bridge was the Old Railroad Bridge, built in 1884. Before Yugoslavia was formed in 1918, the Sava was a border between Serbia and Austria-Hungary. After Yugoslavia was formed, the government and the city began considering the construction of the road bridge. The concessionaires were invited for the first time in 1921. It took nine years for the new state to amass the funds needed for the project: 190 million dinars by the state for the bridge and 30 million dinars by the city for the access roads.

In 1930, an international architectural design competition was set for the road bridge. The winner was a German company Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH) from Oberhausen. As the eastern section of the bridge was planned to start in the Sava port area, in the municipality of Savamala, the propositions included the minimal height of 12 m (39 ft) and a single span across the river of at least 250 m (820 ft) so that it wouldn't present an obstacle for the ships passing to the port and turning around under the bridge.

Construction began in July 1930 and was built by a joint venture of the German Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), executing the steel works, and the French company Société de Construction des Batignolles, performing all other works. The total length of the bridge was 474.7 m (1,557 ft). The main construction of the bridge spawned over 411 m (1,348 ft) across the river, with the main span being 261 m (856 ft) long.

The bridge was modeled after the Mülheim Bridge over the Rhine, in Cologne, Germany. The third "twin", based on almost the same project was built in Vienna, Austria, crossing the Danube. The second incarnation of the Reichsbrücke collapsed due to the structural failure on 1 August 1976.

The deadline for the completion was 8 June 1933, but this deadline was prolonged several times for various reasons. The 1931 Hoover Moratorium by the US president Herbert Hoover, suspended the reparation payments, so the procurement of iron construction was delayed. There were major issues with the expropriation of the lots on the Belgrade side, where the access roads were to be built. The area was already fully urbanized and populated with buildings, but the problem was continuously postponed. Underground waters flooded the area in front of the State Printing House building. The problem existed before, but the works on draining the water and construction of the protective wall were conducted only after the construction of the bridge already began, even physically blocking the access to the bridge's construction site.

The joining of the last parts of the iron construction was finished in November 1933, but it took another year to finish the access roads. A sandy beach with the cabins, kafanas and barracks, used as sheds by the fishermen, occupied the area where the access ramp was to be built on the left, Zemun's side. It was one of the favorite vacation spots of Belgraders, occupying the left bank of the Sava, north of the future bridge, in the modern Ušće neighborhood. People were transported from the city by small boats and the starting point was a small kafana "Malo pristanište" in Savamala. The objects were demolished manually, including numerous kafanas: "Ostend", "Zdravlje", "Abadžija", "Jadran", "Krf", "Dubrovnik", "Adrija", etc. The only one that wasn't demolished was "Nica", predecessor of the modern Ušće restaurant. In total, 20 proper objects and 2,000 cabins, barracks, sheds, etc. were demolished, jointly by the municipalities of Zemun and Bežanija, which owned half of the land each, and the proprietors of the objects. The plan was to build an embankment instead. However, the beach itself survived the construction of the bridge in 1934 as it only made access easier. The beach was finally closed in 1938 when the construction of the embankment began. The beach itself was called Nica (Serbian for Nice, in France ) after one of the kafanas.

The supporting pylon on the right bank was built on the ruins of the former mosque, Liman Mosque. The remnants had to be removed first and this was the source of the popular myth after the demolition, that the bridge was cursed.