Brod na Savi

Sava River

The most permanent role in the traffic and economic life of Brod had the Sava River. Before the railway was built, Sava was more important for the transition of people and goods than it is today. The Romans used its, navigability to Sisak and the Croats, Turks and the Austrians continued. The regulation of Sava for navigation was done according to the order of the tzar Josip II in 1784/85.

The water-mills were transferred, the waterchannel cleaned, the river regulated on more places by building of dikes and flood-gates on left to the middle of the river. "Kopitnica" built in 1771 for pulling the boats upriver, was repaired partially. From 1810 till 1812 it was built the Sava River dike protection and strengthened the shore and built the first road made of stone. It passed near by the shore to kontumac on Vijuš.

The traffic by Sava River was manifold but slow and hard because it took 5-6 days for one navigation from Brod to Sisak. The boats have been dragged by horses and there were a special "kirijaška class", which hold lots of horses and dealt with the traction on Sava. The first steamship arrived in Brod on 6th September of 1846 and it was current on Sisak - Brod line. The Brod citizen Stjepan Jarić set an appeal to the Magistrate to hold wood near the square for the needs of Sava steamships. The transition of people in the first half of 19th century was done by two steamships Galatea and Czigo which were arriving from Sisak on Sunday and from Zemun on Wednesday in Brod. Boats without machine operation did the transition of goods.

After the building of the railway, the traffic on Sava River decreased, especially from Brod na Savi to Sisak, but to Zemum remained important because Brod na Savi became the reloading station from railway to barges and back.