By Lynda Myer
Following three years that the project commenced, the digging and primary lining process of underground road tunnels known as the French Hill tunnels in Jerusalem has been completed.
Including the construction of four tunnels totaling 3.5km, this project’s value is US$340M (£274M) and is located in North Jerusalem, Israel.
Responsibility of advancing this project is up to Jerusalem Municipality in cooperation with the Ministry of Transportation and implemented by the Moriah company, whereas it has been kicked off in 2020.
With intention of decreasing the congestion for residents in and around North Jerusalem travelling into the city, French Hill junction is one of the busiest junctions in Jerusalem, with tens of thousands of vehicles passing through it daily.
In order to constructing the major infrastructure works and tunnels for the project, the main contract was granted to Electra Infrastructure in August 2020 and engineering consultancy Dr Sauer & Partners in Israel joined the project as a subcontractor in January 2021.
Presenting the reference design and specification for the client Moriah, UK-based Geo-Design Consulting Engineers, in collaboration with Tel Aviv-based Shamir Posner Brown are its representative through the construction period.
Considering that the excavation and primary lining installation have been completed, on 23 May Dr Sauer & Partners announced that it has now attained the end of its activity on this project, while in the previous year they revealed that more than halfway through tunneling works were for the major highway project.
The company has been providing detailed design of excavation and support for the primary lining of the tunnels.
According to Dr Sauer & Partners in Israel managing director Petr Salak: “The Dr Sauer & Partners team in Israel has been significantly involved in this momentous project for Jerusalem which will now help to considerably improve the congestion issues in Eastern Jerusalem that residents and commuters have experienced to date. It is a great achievement to now see excavation completed and we look forward to seeing the tunnels in operation.”
Also grade separation below three main junctions that are the French Hill Junction, HaKvarim Junction as well as Coca Cola Junction, are the contents of this project.
Using the four tunnels, the grade separation will be implemented and two two-lane tunnels are due to run east to west and back towards Ma’aleh Adumim, with two additional one-lane tunnels running from Ramot to Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov and back.
Providing ease traffic to travel along Road 1 from Tel Aviv to the Dead Sea and towards Northern Jerusalem without needing to stop at traffic lights, will be the advantage of the tunnels after completion.
