The bridge over the Vardar River near Bashino Selo, built back in 1971, has endured for decades with visible damage that posed a danger to the lives of those who use it daily or periodically. It was temporarily closed and later reopened under a temporary traffic regime. Since March 21, it has been undergoing rehabilitation. For this reason, the Director of the Public Enterprise for State Roads (PESR), Koce Trajanovski, went for an on-site inspection of the rehabilitation activities together with the Mayor of Veles Municipality Mr. Kolev, Members of Parliament Zdravkovski and Jamalov, and the Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Prof. Markovski.

“We have all come here together to check the rehabilitation activities progress on the spot. We are witnessing that the contractor ‘Sintek Engineering’ Skopje is working intensively, and our expectations are that the works will continue smoothly as they have so far and that everything will be completed by June 21 this year, as per the contract. This bridge connects Veles, Čaška, Izvor, and Bogomila—several populated areas—and is of vital importance due to the high traffic volume, including trucks, light freight vehicles, vans, and cars. Unfortunately, it has had visible damage for a long time. Upon our request for expert advice from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, we were instructed to close it and urgently rehabilitate it. After two months of traffic ban, the bridge was reopened, but traffic is allowed only on the middle lane, where the damage is the smallest, and is regulated by traffic lights on both sides. There is a ban for vehicles heavier than 40 tons, and police officers from the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Veles regulate the movement of heavy trucks. We are grateful to them for their assistance and cooperation. I also thank the professors from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Skopje who helped to have a state-of-the-art monitoring equipment installed under the bridge, that monitors and records every crossing 24/7.” – said PESR Director Koce Trajanovski during the inspection.

The contractor reported that the rehabilitation works include treating the underside of the bridge, applying a new type of material to the beams for their reinforcement, and using modern solutions to treat the interior of the bridge structure. So far, the beams with carbon strips have been completed, and the top protection—coating with epoxy resin—has also been finished. A special repair mortar is being applied, and the next steps include reinforcing the damaged main girders and having their underside re-concreted and strengthened. The contractor will also begin installing steel elements to reinforce the beams by adding steel connections, which will further strengthen the bridge structure.

This reconstruction is financed by PESR, i.e., the Government, and the project value is 24,614,554 denars or around 400,000 euros excluding VAT. The rehabilitation of the bridge near Bashino Selo is expected to initially extend its service life by 5 to 10 years.