'Giant mole' completes Gdansk tunnel
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
10.06.2014 09:52
A vast tunnel boring machine (TBM) has completed the second lane of a 1 km-long tunnel under a branch of the River Vistula in Gdansk.
Photo: PAP/Adam Warzawa
Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz and Minister of Development and Infrastructure Elzbieta Bienkowska attended a ceremony on Monday afternoon marking the close of the TBM's work.
The tunnel is the final stage of a new road connecting the city's Lech Walesa Airport and Gdansk's port on the Baltic.
The entire cost amounts to 1.5 billion zloty (365 million euros), over two thirds of which came from EU funds.
Adamowicz described the investment as “extremely important,” arguing that the connection with the port will consolidate Gdansk's status an important economic player in Baltic region.
The tunnel is the first venture of its kind in Poland that has been carried out with the use of a TBM. The machine, which has a length of 90m and a diameter of 12m, was specially constructed in Germany, and is one of the largest if its type in the world.
It is hoped that the tunnel will be open to traffic within twelve months. (nh)
Source: PAP