Minister Petya Avramova inspected the construction of the longest road tunnel in Bulgaria (video)

Today the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works - Petya Avramova and the Chairman of the Management Board of the Road Infrastructure Agency- Georgi Terziyski inspected the work on the Zheleznitsa Tunnel on the Struma Highway – the longest road tunnel ever built in Bulgaria. The first 500 m have already been reached in both tubes on the south side of the facility. About 320 m have been dug on their north side. Thus, a total of over 800 m have been dug in each tube, the minister pointed out. There will be two vehicle and four pedestrian crossings between them, and the first pedestrian crossing has already been built, Avramova said.

The Regional Minister congratulated the contractor for the active work on the infrastructure site, explaining that it is carried out 24 hours a day, in 3 shifts. According to the contractors, the tunnel can be dug with a ready-made primary lining in the spring of 2021, she added. The entire section is expected to be completed in 2022.

The project for the construction of the Zheleznitsa Tunnel on the Struma Highway is co-financed by the European Union Cohesion Fund and the national budget through the Operational programme on Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014 – 2020. The section has a total length of 4.4 km and is divided into 3 subsections, including the tunnel, and a service road on both sides of the facility.

The tunnel with a length of about 2 km is built according to a new Austrian method by digging about 1.5-2 m in each tube and direction in a day and immediately after that making the primary lining of the facility with fasteners, sprayed concrete and anchors. The site has been under construction for the last two months as well, despite the state of emergency due to COVID-19, in compliance with all anti-epidemic measures.

So far, about 160,000 m3 of rock mass has been removed during the digging of the tubes. More than 35% of the route of the two tubes of the facility has been dug and strengthened. The work is being performed simultaneously and will end with a connection between the north and the south portals. The goal is to complete the facility by January 2022. It will have systems for energy efficient lighting, ventilation, video surveillance, fire alarm, an intelligent traffic management system, emergency SOS booths, audio and radio notification, electronic access control system, etc. A helicopter pad, two bridges over Suha reka (108 m and 18 m), a retaining wall, etc. will be built.

The contractor is “AM STRUMA TUNNEL 2018” Consortium, in which participate: “GP GROUP” AD, “GLOBAL CONSTRUCTIONS” OOD AND “VIA PLAN” EOOD. The value of the contract is BGN 185,370,370.37 without VAT. The construction supervision is carried out by “Plan Invest Zheleznitsa” DZZD. The union includes: “PLAN INVEST PLOVDIV”, “INFRAPROJECT CONSULT” EOOD, “Askos 03” EOOD, “SEARCH CORPORATION SRL”. The value of the contract is BGN 3,994,440 without VAT.

The sub-section before the facility, traveling from Sofia to Kulata, is 720 m long. A bridge is being built in this section. It will be 540 m long and will cross over 6 obstacles –  Struma River, route E79, the existing and the future railway line, the municipal road and over the service road of the tunnel. The viaduct is built according to an innovative technology for Bulgaria – controlled lifting of the superstructure with hydraulic jacks. Its characteristic feature is that it uses a work platform with mobile elements, which are lifted and pushed forward with the use of a hydraulic system, and each element is mounted in front of the finished one. During the construction of the bridge facility, the traffic on the first-class route E79 Sofia – Kulata will not be stopped.

The section is built by “Zheleznitsa - Sever” DZZD, which includes: “GBS-Infrastructure Construction” AD, “Glavbolgarstroy” AD and “Glavbolgarstroy International” EAD. The value of the contract is BGN 29,985,345 without VAT. The construction supervision is carried out by “TES Consult” DZZD, which includes: “STROL 1000” AD, “TRI-ES” EOOD and “EKSPERT DISIZHANS” OOD. Their contract is for BGN 599,783 without VAT.

The sub-section after the tunnel, traveling to Kulata, is 1.4 km long. An emergency connection will be built in it, which in case of an unforeseen situation in the tunnel will be able to divert traffic in the direction of Sofia to route E79. An underpass, retaining and fortification wall, drainage facilities, etc. will be built. 300,000 m3 of excavations and embankments, culverts, armored walls, formworks, reinforcement and concrete works on the culvert, etc. have been completed in the section. Currently, excavation and embankment works are being carried out to shape the body of the highway, fortification walls, culverts, an underpass at the emergency connection of the highway, drainage systems.

The contractor of the construction and installation works is PSТ Group JSC. The value of the contract is BGN 18,442,297.40 excluding VAT. The construction supervision is carried out by “PATCONSULT 2000-CONSULT 64” DZZD, which includes: “PATCONSULT 2000” EOOD and “CONSULT 64” OOD. Their contract is for BGN 465,222 excluding VAT.

In response to a question from the media, Minister Avramova commented that the European funds under the Operational Programme “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” for the Struma Highway will not be lost. The deadlines and the risks are being monitored in order to assess whether the section through the Kresna Gorge can be completed on time, or the funding can be transferred to other sections of the TEN-T network, she said. The Minister added that the section is included in the priorities of the government and can be implemented with European funds for the new programming period or with state resources.