By Rose Bell
Over 90 percent of the construction work has been completed. At the present time, the contractor is preparing to lay the road layers. In the construction of the tunnel under the Strait of Swina is the last and most important stage. During the press conference, journalists were able to observe the progress of the construction.
“This will probably be the last visit before the tunnel opens. Upon receiving official invitations to the opening of the tunnel, we will inform you of the exact date when the contractor has set a deadline for the completion of the investment at the end of May. Before that occurs, we plan to invite residents of Swinoujscie, the entire province, but not only, to meet on the island of Uznam, and then visit the island of Wolin, admiring the engineering achievements. There has been a great deal of progress on the project. In order to be able to use the tunnel under Swina, there is not much left – said Janusz Zmurkiewicz, the Mayor of Swinaujscia, at the press conference. Barbara Michalska, First Deputy Mayor of Swijnoujscie, and Pawe Sujka, Second Deputy Mayor of Swijnoujscie, were also present at the event.
In addition to speaking on behalf of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways – Project Investor, Julita Borkowska also stated: – All construction works have been completed successfully. We have prepared emergency exits. In the tunnel, the most important work at the moment involves laying bitumen, the layer on which vehicles will travel. Additionally, the tunnel’s safety systems will ensure the safety of its users during their movements. In order to connect all these systems, buildings are being constructed. As a result, these are the projects that we are paying the most attention to at the present time. It will only be a matter of months before the riots begin – it is only a matter of waiting and watching.
In addition, Jacek Król, Resident Engineer of the SWECO/Lafrentz consortium, which supervises the works, commented on the progress of the project: – The laying of the road layers, which include the mastic asphalt layer, as well as the final wearing course, on which cars will move, are scheduled to begin shortly. This is the most important task at this point on the construction site, and the contractor is preparing for this process. It is now possible to feed asphalt to the asphalt feeding machines. There was a success in the most difficult stages, including drilling the tunnel or creating emergency exits using the freezing technology.
There is a single-tube tunnel under the Swina Strait. In each direction, there will be one 3.5-meter-wide lane as well as an emergency lane approximately 2 meters wide. The municipality of Swinoujscie is the main investor. Szczecin Branch of the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways is responsible for project management. This project is being carried out by the PORR/Gülermak consortium. It is supervised by SWECO/Lafrentz. It is estimated that the total investment will cost more than PLN 900 million, of which almost 775.7 million will be co-financed by the European Union (85 percent). Those remaining funds are provided by the investor, the Municipality of Swinoujscie, from its own budget.
