After the completion of activities on the construction of the Zenica bypass, the focus of activities of the Public Utility (PU) ”Autoceste Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH)” in the Zenica region was placed on the continuation of works to the north, on subsections Vranduk – Ponirak, Ponirak – Vraca, as well as the northern part of the Tunnel Zenica – Donja Gracanica section.
Subsection Vranduk – Ponirak, which is part of the section Poprikuse – Zenica north, has a total length of 5.3 km and significant facilities on the subsection are the bridges Vranduk 1 and Vranduk 2, together with the tunnel of the same name, eKapija writes.
”At the construction site, activities are currently being carried out on all facilities as well as on the open part of the route. Excavations, slope protection, construction of piles, and retaining walls are performed on the route, while additional exploratory wells are being drilled on some parts of the route. The route is specific for the left and right pavement separated by height and scale diagram because the road stretches through very steep slopes, and since it is mostly in a notch, so a significant number of high retaining walls are designed using reinforcement technology. Besides the works on the route, there are also works being performed on the Malinjak landfill, ” it was announced from the ”Autoceste FBiH”.
Works on abutments and span structures at the pillars on the bridges Vranduk 1 (length 390 m) and Vranduk 2 (length 340 m) are underway.
The contractor for the construction of the Vranduk – Ponirak subsection is the consortium Azvirt L.L.C from Azerbaijan and Hering from Siroki Brijeg, while the consortium DRI Investment Management from Slovenia and Divel from Sarajevo supervise the execution of works. The value of the Contract for the construction of the Vranduk – Ponirak subsection is 76.592.799 EUR including VAT, and the funds were provided through the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
The Zenica tunnel, which is at the subsection Ponirak – Vraca (part of the section Poprikuse – Zenica north) represents the dominant object since it makes up over 90% of the highway route.
”The Zenica tunnel is constructed as a two-pipe tunnel, so the total length of the right tunnel pipe is 3.371.9 m, and the left pipe 3.324.1 m. The tunnel passes under the mountain Vepar and will have nine pedestrian passages, two passages for motor vehicles, and two stop niches, and is being built according to the New Austrian Tunnel Method (NATM) which is very suitable given the expected changes in geological and geotechnical conditions. 120 workers are working on the construction of this tunnel, and the works are in progress 24 hours a day. Tunneling is being carried out simultaneously on the south and north side, ” it was explained in the ”Autoceste FBiH.”
On the north side, in Ponirak area, the works are performed by ”Euro – Asfalt”, while on the south side the works are performed by the Turkish company ”Cengiz insaa Sanayi ve Ticaret.”
So far, 830 meters of left and 900 meters of right tunnel pipe have been excavated on the north side of the Zenica tunnel, and excavation, primary support, and concrete lining of both tunnel pipes in the length of 870 meters have been performed on the south side, measured from the exit portal including transverse passages.
As it is further pointed out, the biggest obstacle in the construction of the Zenica tunnel is the presence of groundwater in large quantities, however, even the complex geological conditions did not disturb the planned work dynamics.
The value of the Contract for the construction of the subsection Ponirak – Vraca is 59.408.825 EUR without VAT, and the funds are provided through the European Investment Bank (EIB) of 50 million EUR, and European Union (EU) grants of 19 million EUR which are provided under the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) Connecting Agenda.
