The tunnel boring portion of Slovakia’s Cebrat highway tunnel project has finally been completed. The project has been subject to several delays but the drive for the 3.6km link is finished at last. Fitting out work is underway and the tunnel is expected to be open for drivers in the second half of 2024. The tunnel will meet the EU’s latest requirements on tunnel safety and sophisticated traffic control systems are being installed as required.
Although construction work for the tunnel commenced in 2014, the work came to a stop when the contractor encountered poor ground conditions in 2015, resulting in a landslip. This necessitated a redesign with the tunnel then having to be extended from the original 2km drive to the current 3.6km alignment. Another delay to the project resulted from the discovery of a cave during part of the excavation work.
The halt in progress, subsequent redesign and the need for a longer tunnel boosted the cost to €290 million. The tunnel will form part of the Liptov stretch of Slovakia’s D1 route between Ivachnova and Hubova and is expected to handle around 20,000 vehicles/day. The construction work is being carried out by the Slovak-Czech consortium Vahostav-SK and OHL ZS.
