Veles, 3 January 2025 (MIA) - After a cautionary advice from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Skopje, due to deteriorating condition and high-risk constructions, the Ministry of Interior on Friday closed for traffic the Vardar River bridge near Bashino Selo, at one of the entrances to Veles, until a temporary solution is found.

One lane of the bridge is expected to be adjusted for traffic until a new bridge is built about fifty meters further from the current one. Until then, most of the traffic will be carried out through the central city area of ​​Veles, where congestion has already been created today.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski oversaw the bridge on Friday alongside Minister of Interior Panche Toshkovski, Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikolovski, director of the State Roads public enterprise Koce Trajanovski and Veles Mayor Marko Kolev. 

The Municipality of Veles is expecting in the coming days a technical solution for the rehabilitation of the bridge from the dean and the expert services of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Skopje, so that at least one lane of the bridge can be reopened to traffic within 60 to 90 days.

Mayor Marko Kolev said design and construction of a new bridge about fifty meters further from the current bridge is also being carried out in parallel.

PM Mickoski said that although back in 2018, the mayor at the time appealed for the bridge to be reconstructed, it has not been done.

"This bridge was built in 1971, as a temporary solution by the Army at the time. After so many years, i.e. 53 years, this temporary solution slowly but surely became a permanent solution and we are now in a situation where such steps must be taken. On my personal behalf, I would like to apologize to the people of Veles and to all those citizens who will unfortunately see increased traffic through Veles in the comin period and this bridge will not be able to be used for traffic. I really regret that this has to happen, but it is better for us to take a political bullet than, God forbid, to lose a human life. Unfortunately, 54 years nothing has been done," said Mickoski. 

He added that members of the MoI's special units are engaged, and diving activities are also underway to record damage in the foundation area, and provide the information to the professors from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, so that they can prepare a technical solution as soon as possible, enabling at least one lane for traffic within the next 90 days.  

Construction of the new bridge is expected to begin in the second half of 2025, some fifty meters further away from the current bridge. 

"The director of the State Roads public enterprise has informed me that in the coming period, the next week or two, a month at the latest, the call for the selection of designers will end. They will be able to start designing immediately. The design would take a month and a half, up to two, and then there would be a public procurement, a tender, and we expect the project to be prepared sometime in the second half of next year, the contractor to be selected, and so on, and the new bridge to be built," Mickoski said.