An update on the condition of the bridge, which led to the decision to permanently stop the passage of vehicles, was made late Saturday at an extraordinary meeting of the municipalities of Serbia and Velventos by regional governor Giorgos Kasapidis.

At the crowded Serbian Cultural Center, the regional governor presented part of a study by specialist scientists who recently worked on the bridge, establishing cracks that are present in two tendons of a particular bridge abutment, as well as intense corrosion in their supporting body. Mr. Kasapidis explained that “If we hadn’t found a tendon problem today and acted the same as in the past, I assure you it would only be a matter of time before the bridge collapsed.”

The Serbian Mayor, for his part, said that stopping traffic on the bridge creates a serious problem in the daily life of citizens, since part of the municipality with more than 10 communities is located on the other side of the lake and in order to communicate with Serbia, they need to cover distances exceeding 130 km. The problem concerns elementary, middle and high school students, as well as those working in the area. At the same time, Mr. Eleftheriou raised the issue of compensatory assistance for the damage that would be caused by the ban on the construction of the bridge, both to the municipality and to workers and specialists in the area.

The mayor of Velventos demanded the intervention of the region to allow the movement of vehicles from Velventos to Kozani on the road passing through the Polifitou dam. It should be noted that, according to Mayor Mr. Manolis Stergiou, the checkpoint referred to the safety issues of the dam and banned the passage of vehicles on a particular road.

An emergency briefing organized by the two municipalities was attended by Kozani ND MPs Giorgos Amanatidis and Statis Konstantinides, as well as SYRIZA MP Kalliopi Veta.

^{Source: APE-MEB}