Peljesac Bridge, Croatia's largest infrastructure project co-funded by the European Union, will be formally opened on Tuesday evening.

The bridge will provide an uninterrupted road link between southernmost Croatia and the rest of the country by bypassing a short stretch of the coastline at Neum where Bosnia and Herzegovina has access to the Adriatic Sea.

This historic event will be marked by a day-long programme at the Brijesta and Komarna rest stops at both ends of the bridge, starting at 8am with performances by orchestras from Dubrovnik-Neretva County and a boat race under the bridge.

The opening ceremony starts at 8.15pm and will be briefly addressed by Dubrovnik-Neretva County Prefect Nikola Dobroslavic, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic, European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Suica, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (by video message), Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandrokovic and President Zoran Milanovic.

The ceremony will end with a fireworks display around 10pm when two Croatian-made cars, a Nevera from Rimac Automobili and one built by Croatian racing driver Niko Pulic, will drive across the bridge. Regular traffic will start at midnight.

The bridge is 2,404 metres long, 21 metres wide and 55 metres high. The entire project, including access roads and purchase of land from private owners, cost €525 million, of which the EU provided €357 million. The bridge was designed by Marjan Pipenbaher and built by China Road and Bridge Corporation.

This project ends the territorial discontinuity created by a 1699 peace treaty under which the Dubrovnik Republic, or the Republic of Ragusa, ceded the stretch of the coast around Neum to the Ottoman Empire.