A dismantling squad of 1 bridge company of 2nd Engineering Regiment from Inowrocława came to Slovenia to dismantle a temporary bridge built 2 years earlier in an area destroyed by the flood of Mežica town close the border with Austria. The bomb squads have another crossing to undress, after which both structures will return to Poland.
Exactly 2 years ago, in August 2023, Slovenia suffered a catastrophic flood. The devastating effects of the component were felt on 2 thirds of the country's surface. The losses were estimated at over PLN 2 million. Soldiers from the 2nd Engineering Regiment of Inowrocław moved to aid the local community.. They demolished 4 bridges destroyed by the flood wave, harassed rivers, streams, water ducts and culverts, and built temporary bridges of kind DMS-65 in 2 locations – in the area of the town of Mežica, on the Meža River, and in the village of Gornji Grad on the Dreta River.
The Slovenians had already rebuilt the bridge over Meža, so the temporary crossing could have been dismantled. To this end, Polish soldiers left again for Slovenia at the end of last week. 3 vehicles – a bus and 2 Jelcz 862 trucks – equipped with Hiab cranes designed to disassemble elements of the bridge structure were launched from Poland. It is presently waiting for transport to Poland. “We started our work on the site with the removal of the surfaces – road plates and curbs. We utilized our Hiabs for this. The most hard phase was to rise the 27-metre bridge lift delivered by the Slovenians and to decision it to an assembly area about 20 m away, which we had prepared earlier. Then we dismantled the remaining elements of the structure, as described by Lt. Wojciech Sztandur, commander of the squad who went to Slovenia.
The lieutenant emphasizes that Polish soldiers carrying out tasks in Mežica met with cordiality and warm reception – both from the local services and the local population. “People came to us and thanked us for the fact that in times of hard floods for them, in the mountainous country of Slovenia, we helped them and installed temporary crossings. During their work, residents besides brought us reinforcements. That was very good – the officer emphasizes.
The disassembled construction was taken from Mežica to the Slovenian Army warehouse, where it will wait until the soldiers arrive again in this country and dismantle the second, 24-meter bridge in Gornji Grad. Then both structures will return to Poland. However, for now there is no known date for the demolition of the bridge in Gornji Grad. Bombers from the 2nd Engineering Regiment in Inowrocław will return from Slovenia at the end of the week.
