Đurđevića Tara Bridge is an arch bridge over the Tara River in northern Montenegro. It is located at the crossroads between Mojkovac, Žabljak and Pljevlja, between the villages of Budečevica and Trešnjica.
It was built between 1937 and 1940 and designed by Mijat Trojanović, who also oversaw the construction. Isaac Russo was the Chief Engineer. When it was finished, it was the biggest vehicular concrete arch bridge in Europe.
The bridge is 365 m long, and has five arches, the biggest having span of 116 m. The distance between the roadbed and the river is 172 m.
Following the German-led invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, much of Montenegro, including the Tara Canyon, came under Italian occupation, and, due to the suitability of the mountainous terrain for guerilla warfare, became a hotbed of the communist Partisan uprising. The fighting between the Partisans and Italian occupiers aided by Serb-nationalist Chetniks claimed the Tara Bridge in 1942 during an Italian-Chetnik offensive. Aided by one of the bridge engineers, Lazar Jaukovic, a Partisan raiding party blew up the central arch, cutting off the only feasible crossing over the Tara Canyon and thus blocking the Italian/Chetnik advance. It was a heroic act that cost Jaukovic his life: When he was eventually captured, the Italians executed the engineer on his bridge. These events were made into a movie called “Most”, in [1969].
In 1946, the bridge was rebuilt. It remains an engineering marvel and the main crossing point over the Tara Canyon.
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