Massive stay cable completes Sava Bridge installation

BBR HiAm CONA stay cable system installed in only 12 months

At an amazing length of almost 375 m, the final and massive BBR HiAm CONA stay cable for Belgrade’s Sava Bridge is now in place. Installed in just a 12 month period, the whole stay cable assembly for the bridge has required a total of 80 stays – and 1300 t of strand for their manufacture.

The single 200 m high, needle-shaped pylon, through which the stay cables are anchored, was constructed with self-climbing formwork – and is now the highest structure in the city.

The stay cables are formed from compacted bundles of parallel 7-wired stranded steel cables. Each individual strand is galvanized and sheathed with polyethylene coating filled with grease to prevent corrosion. The outer diameter of the covering HDPE pipes - finished in a silver-grey colour - varies from 200 to 280 mm, depending on the number of strands enclosed. The strand-by-strand installation method was used for the cables which contain up to 91 strands each.

The new 376 m span bridge across the River Sava is the most significant element of Serbia’s Belgrade Inner City Semi-Ring Road and will provide increased network capacity for both local and transit traffic.