At the site of Lower Polimlje (Polimlje) are the regions located in the basin of the Lima River from southeastern Bosnia, through the canyon of the Lim River to its confluence with the Drina. Since the time of the Illyrians, there has been a border between the Eastern and Western Roman Empires in this area. Even before Polimlje came under Ottoman rule, a caravan route connected Sarajevo – Višegrad – Rudo – Uvac – Prijepolje and Novi Pazar. During the Turkish period, within the network of roads in Lower Polimlje, there existed a so-called *imperial road toll station* and it was an integral part of the *Constantinople route*, starting from Sarajevo—one route passing through Prača, Čajnići, and Pjevalje, and another through Višegrad, Budimlije, Uvac, Priboj, and up to Pljevlja. This communication, in both directions, forms just a segment of a broader land transportation network, knowing that during the Middle Ages and Ottoman times, these regions were frequented by caravans with goods from Dubrovnik and the hinterlands heading toward Eastern Bosnia and Serbia, and vice versa.
Bridge at the confluence of the Lima River into the Drina – The Bridge on the Drina
The area of the aforementioned communication (in changed direction and total length) during the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina saw the development of newer types of roads—railway lines—along the route from caravan trails to macadam roads. The narrow-gauge railway line, which branched off at the bridge on the Drina at the mouth of the Lima, was built from Sarajevo to Uvac, and further to Visegrad and Dobrun.
In addition to the mentioned facts, the main reason for writing this article is to explore a topic of historical significance within both the narrower and broader region, namely the railway bridge as a key communication intersection on the aforementioned route.
The narrow-gauge railway bridge at the mouth of the Lima River into the Drina was an important strategic facility. It was built between 1902 and 1905. On the right side of the bridge, on the banks of the Drina River and at the estuary of the Lima, a railway station building was constructed (military guardhouse – sentry post) called Bridge over the Drina – Rasputnica. On the left bank, about three kilometers away, was the Međeđa railway station, which, in free translation, is the main station for dispatching trains across the bridge – Rasputnica towards Višegrad or Priboj on the Lim. Officially, the first railway train departing from Sarajevo crossed it on July 4, 1906, reaching the final station at Uvac, and on the same day, from Međeđa to Dobrun station.
The railway bridge with the Most on the Drina station – Rasputnica (the term Most on the Lim was used for a long time) was an integral part of the structure of the built narrow-gauge railway, width 0.76 m, known as the “Eastern line” (main eastern route – Sarajevo Ostgrenze), on the Sarajevo – Uvac route as the main line and a branch of the “secondary” line from the Međeđa station towards Dobrun. Both mentioned railway routes, which diverged at Most on the Drina station, were put into public traffic on July 4, 1906. Two months later, on August 1 of the same year, the extension of the railway from Dobrun to Vardište (the state border then between the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Kingdom of Serbia) was built and opened to public traffic, and only on February 2, 1925, this part of the railway was connected to Užić and since then gained the status of the main line on the Sarajevo – Belgrade – Sarajevo route. The other route from the state border with Serbia (Uvac) further into traffic was only opened on January 1, 1929, with the construction of the railway from Uvac station to Priboj on the Lim.
Throughout its entire existence, it was built from a metal structure approximately 130 meters long, which was several times destroyed and reconstructed during the two World Wars. The original appearance of the structure (1906) was semi-circular. Around autumn 1914, during the retreat from Serbia, the Austro-Hungarian army demolished the bridge, leading to the suspension of railway traffic towards Uvac and Visegrad for about two years. In April 1916, the bridge was reconstructed with a flat structure and new concrete towers. The restoration work was carried out jointly by the military railway division and bridge construction companies from Vienna, Waagner Biro and Kurz (Waagner-Biró und Kurz), which still produces bridges today.
After establishing traffic towards Užice and Belgrade in 1926, a new second renovation of this bridge was carried out, namely an reinforcement of the structure due to the passage of heavier locomotives and cargo at that time (valuable archive photographs of the bridge’s renovation can be viewed at the link: https://vremeplov.ba/2025/?p=11693). In the wartime year of 1943, following the capitulation of the Italian occupation army and the withdrawal from the territory of Eastern Bosnia, bloody conflicts arose over control of this area during the war. Although well maintained by the German army, the bridge on the Drina was destroyed by mines, suffering a rupture in the middle and collapsing into the River Drina. In the same year, the German military temporarily rebuilt it (the third renovation) due to its exceptional strategic importance for military transport to the southern front.
At the end of the war, in 1945, major repairs were carried out on the bridge, so that the restored bridge (the fourth reconstruction) has been serving for railway traffic flawlessly ever since, until its decommissioning in 1978. The discontinuation of the narrow-gauge railway Sarajevo – Užice/Priboj on the Lim was carried out gradually, as follows: Užice – Višegrad on March 1, 1974, and Višegrad – Sarajevo, or Priboj n/L – Međeđa on May 28, 1978. The arrival of the last passenger train from Višegrad and Priboj n/L at the Sarajevo station (Čengić Vila), headed by a diesel locomotive, occurred on August 1, 1978, and is officially considered the date of the discontinuation of the “Eastern narrow-gauge railway.”
With the planning and future construction of the Višegrad hydroelectric plant, the final days begin in the countdown to the life of this railway bridge, which at that time served as a road bridge. Namely, in early November 1989, just before the official commissioning of the first generator (November 26, 1989), explosions of mines echoed with siren wails, rapidly transforming the terrain of the Drina and Lima canyons. The metal structure of the bridge, which still stands firmly on its towers, slowly sinks into the eternal submerged world from minute to minute. A bridge that proudly carried passenger and freight trains in both directions for 70 years, connecting people from one bank to the other, creating lasting friendships and love, and contributing to human longing for a shared life and companionship, now peacefully departs into the river’s silence.
Although submerged, it remains an eternal monument to a distant time, eternally embraced by the clear waters of the Drina.
“Of everything that man raises and builds in his instinct for living, nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges.” Ivo Andrić, Nobel laureate.
Photographs of the Bridge on the Drina (Bridge on the Lim) from its inception, destruction, and reconstruction, as well as photos taken at the moment the bridge was submerged, remain as witnesses to some past times and events, cherished memories that we must not forget.
Srećko Ignjatović
