A 5 km section of motorway with a 2 km road tunnel was put into operation as part of the “Struma” Motorway between Blagoevgrad and Simitli. Part of the section is the important tunnel structure reinforcing the landslide near the village of Zheleznitsa, which was built by the “AM Struma 3.1” Consortium with “Groma Hold” as the lead partner in less than 10 months.
“Only a company with extensive experience in large-scale infrastructure, with the necessary expertise and technical potential, such as “Groma Hold”, could have handled this challenging task. In record time, we carried out a huge number of construction and installation works, including 400 piles, anchored in rock at depths of up to 32 m, reinforcing anchors up to 34 m long, installing around 3,500 tons of iron reinforcement and pouring 70,000 cubic meters of concrete. The purpose of the tunnel is to act as a counterforce that will restrain and reinforce the geological processes in the upper part of the mountain slope above this section of the motorway,” says Viktor Velev, manager of “Groma Hold”.
Along with the reinforcement tunnel, “Groma Hold” is completing the last 500-meter section of Lot 3.1 of the “Struma” Motorway. The tunnel has a total length of 250 m. Its construction became necessary after landslides occurred in the immediate vicinity of the right lane of the motorway, making it essential to ensure safe passage along the motorway.
The tunnel is equipped with modern safety systems, including fire alarm, lighting, and emergency lighting systems, which also indicate the distance to the nearest exits in case of evacuation. There is guide lighting installed in the pavement blocks, as well as traffic lights in accordance with regulatory requirements.
All safety and traffic control systems on the “Struma” Motorway will be monitored in a special Traffic Control Center, managed by the Road Infrastructure Agency and the Regional Road Administration in Blagoevgrad, whose construction has also been entrusted to “Groma Hold”.
After the introduction of the new 5 km section of the “Struma” Motorway, traffic in the area will be relieved, but the risk of traffic jams near Simitli remains real, and the need for the complete completion of the “Struma” Motorway through the Kresna gorge is becoming increasingly urgent.
