Branisko Tunnel

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The Branisko Tunnel is a road tunnel in eastern Slovakia. It is located on the D1 motorway at Beharovce - Fričovce section. It replaced the Branisko Pass road, which was difficult particularly for trucks. Currently only one tube is open to traffic; the second tube is expected to be opened in the future.

Construction began when the exploration gallery driving was launched on April 1996 on the axle of the northern (left) tube. The southern tube driving started in May 1997 from both portals using the technology of New Austrian Tunnelling method(NATM). Works were slowed down in 1999 due to cost cutting for motorway constructions. The breakthrough was made on May 1, 1999. The southern (right) tube of the tunnel with the Beharovce - Fričovce section was opened on June 29, 2003.

The open part of the tunnel is 4 822 m long; the western portal is 73.4 m long, and the eastern portal is 79.2 m long. The road in the tunnel is 7.5 m wide, with 1 m wide sidewalks on both sides; maximum height is 4.5 m, maximum gradient is 1.2%. The maximum allowed speed in tunnel is 80 km/h.

With Slovaks the tunnel is known for scandals around the construction companies, very high construction costs (from planned 80 to around 170-200 million Euro), delays in the opening date (scheduled for c. 2000, opened in 2003), as well frequent shut-downs, mostly for maintenance (around 30 days per year).

[edit] External links

• Tunnel Branisko (English)
• Tunel Branisko (Slovak)