Over 1 mln vehicles pass through Croatia's Peljesac Bridge since inauguration

ZAGREB, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Over 1 million vehicles have passed through the Peljesac Bridge since it was inaugurated on July 26 this year, said Slavisa Babic, head of the Traffic Department of the Croatia Roads, in a recent interview with Xinhua.

According to Babic, the one millionth vehicle passed the bridge, built by the Chinese consortium led by the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), on Nov. 22, and on average, over 8,500 vehicles pass through the bridge on a daily basis.

In addition to connecting Croatia's long divided territory, the bridge has also strongly promoted the transportation and economic development in Korcula, Dubrovnik and other cities in southern Croatia.

"Now with the bridge we are one connected country. The bridge itself has much higher value than just connecting people because of economy, tourism and such," Babic said.

Babic spoke highly of the quality of the bridge as there was a strong earthquake in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina this year, but the bridge did not experience any faults.

"So the bridge is obviously built quite good and we are satisfied with the building of the bridge," he said.

Qi Qianjin, the Chinese ambassador to Croatia, told Xinhua that the Peljesac Bridge has been a bridge of cooperation, development and friendship between China and Croatia.

The 30 years of bilateral diplomatic ties shows that although the two countries are far apart, as long as they adhere to mutual respect, treat each other as equals, and build more bridges of mutual trust, cooperation and friendship, they can cross mountains and seas and embark on a road of mutual benefit and win-win results, Qi said.