Kresna Gorge Tunnel

Kresna Gorge Tunnel
Overview
Location Kresna Gorge, Bulgaria
Coordinates

41°46′7″N 23°9′18″E / 41.76861°N 23.15500°ECoordinates: 41°46′7″N 23°9′18″E / 41.76861°N 23.15500°E

Kresna Gorge Tunnel (Bulgaria)
Status Design stage
Route Struma motorway,
Start Krupnik, Bulgaria
End Kresna, Bulgaria
Operation
Work begun 2016 (estimated)
Opened 2020-2023 (estimated)
Operator NCSIP
Traffic automobile
Character motorway, twin-tube
Toll no
Technical
Length 15.385 km (9.560 mi) east tube, 15.410 km (9.575 mi) west tube
Number of lanes 2 x 2

Kresna Gorge Tunnel is a planned twin-tube tunnel, carrying two traffic lanes in each direction, in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria. The tunnel is part of Struma motorway (A3), that runs between Pernik and the border crossing to Greece, at the village of Kulata.

The proposed length of the tunnel of over 15 km will place it among the longest road tunnels in the world. The main reason to build a motorway tunnel of such length is to protect the environment in the Kresna Gorge.

The design works of the tunnel began in 2013 and are expected to be completed in September 2014.[1] The construction is expected to begin in 2016.[2] The construction costs along with the access roads are estimated at 1.1 billion levs (~562.4 million euro).[3] According to the CEO of NCSIP, the state company that runs the project, the tunnel will be built by the New Austrian Tunnelling method due to the diverse geology in the Kresna gorge, which makes the usage of TBM inapplicable.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Завършен е концептуалният проект, част "Пътна", на лот 3 на "Струма"". stroitelstvo.info (in Bulgarian). 2013-11-18.
  2. ↑ "Bulgaria to start 830 mln euro Kresna gorge tunnel in 2016". wire.seenews.com.
  3. ↑ "ОБЯВЛЕНИЕ ЗА ПРЕДВАРИТЕЛНА ИНФОРМАЦИЯ" (in Bulgarian). aop.bg.
  4. ↑ "Българските тунелни фирми дадоха заявка за строителството на лот 3 на "Струма"". stroitelstvo.info (in Bulgarian). 26 May 2014.

External links