Vranduk tunnel on Vranduk – Ponirak sub-section broken through

(Patria) - By excavating the last meters of rock, the right side of the Vranduk tunnel on the Vranduk – Ponirak sub-section was broken through today. The length of the right tube of the Vranduk tunnel is 312 meters, and the contractor is the consortium Azvirt L.L.C (Azerbaijan) and Hering d.d. Široki Brijeg (BiH).

"Tunnel breakthrough works began at the end of March this year and were carried out in three shifts. At the entrance to the right tunnel tube, the geology was more complex, while it improved as excavation progressed. Most of the works were carried out in category III with the use of micro-reinforced concrete. In parallel, works were carried out on the preparation of fine leveling shotcrete, foundations of the secondary lining, and in poorer categories, the invert arch."

In the left tunnel tube, 108 meters remain to be excavated out of a total length of 456 meters. This twin-tube tunnel was built using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM). Supervision of the works is carried out by the consortium DRI upravljanje investicijama d.o.o. (Slovenia) – DIVEL d.o.o. Sarajevo (BiH)," announced Autoceste FBiH.

Funds for construction were secured through the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). The Vranduk – Ponirak sub-section is part of the Poprikuše – Zenica north (Donja Gračanica) section, which continues to the north with the Nemila – Vranduk sub-section and to the south with the Ponirak – Vraca sub-section. The total length of the sub-section according to the project is 5.3 kilometers. Among the structures on the route are the Vranduk 1 and Vranduk 2 bridges, which are being built using the cantilever construction method, and the Vranduk tunnel, as well as three smaller viaducts. The specificity of the route is the horizontally and vertically separated left and right lanes of the highway due to the fact that the highway runs through very steep slopes. The highway is mostly in a cut, which is why a significant number of high retaining walls have been designed, which will be built using the reinforced earth technology.