Excavation completed early on Dalmatian tunnel
22 December 2020Breakthrough has occurred 74 days before scheduled on Croatia’s strategic Debeli Brijeg tunnel which forms part of the Peljesac bridge and tunnel project designed to link southern Dalmatia to the rest of the country.
As the longest on the ‘Road Connection with Southern Dalmatia’ project, the 2,467m tunnel is located on the second section of the access roads to the Peljesac Bridge, currently under construction. The bridge will stretch 2.4km from the Peljesac Peninsula to the mainland, spanning across the bay in the Adriatic shared by Croatia and Bosnia. The project lies entirely within Croatia and will bypass two border crossings with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Working for Croatia’s national road agency, contractor Strabag started excavating the tunnel on 7 April 2020 and worked throughout lockdown, using NATM for the main tube, and for the pedestrian and service tunnels.
Also part of the project are 12km of access roads, the 499m-long Kamenica Tunnel on which blasting has already begun, the 156m-long Doli Viaduct, the 488m-long Dumanja Jaruga I Bridge and the 80m-long Dumanja Jaruga II Bridge, also under construction.
The project is co-financed by the EU’s Regional Development Fund which has contributed US$434 million to the total US$639 million project investment.
