The Sibiu – Pitești highway changes the Olt Valley. How to work on the spectacular route of A1 in the gorge

The Olt Valley is gradually transformed into a huge yard, and the most spectacular constructions on the Sibiu – Pitești highway get contour. The “bridge for bears” from Călinești, the Viaductul Boița and the Robești tunnel gradually change the appearance of the area.

Robești tunnel. Photo: Daniel Guță. TRUTH

The most spectacular section of the Sibiu – Pitești highway, partially in the site, starts from the town of Boița (Sibiu county) and continues through the Olt gorge on a route of 31 kilometers, to the area of ​​the Cornet Monastery (Vâlcea county) and of the Cornetu Hydrocentra. From here, the new highway will turn to the left, leaving the Olt Valley and following the Băiașului Valley to Curtea de Argeș.

Olt gorge turns into a huge yard

49 bridges and viaducts will be built on the segment of the Olt Defile of the Olt Defile of the Olt Defile of the Olt Defile of the Olt Defile, between 250 and 1,590 meters (in total, 4,920 meters), an ecoduct for large mammals in the area of ​​Lazaret and the road nodes from Boița and Cornetu. Also on the Olt Valley, at the end of the Boița – Cornetu section, an ecoduct will be arranged in Călinești, near the Cornetu Monastery.

The contract for the works on the Boița – Cornetu lot was signed in February 2022 between the Romanian state and the MAPA – CENGIZ (Turkey). It has a value of over 4.2 billion lei, excluding VAT, and as a deadline for the year 2028. At present, the authorizations necessary to start the construction have been granted only for about five kilometers of the route.

The Ecoduct from Călinești is included in the Cornetu – Tigveni section of about 38 kilometers, in the continuation of the highway in the Olt Gorge. The works on this section were assigned in the summer of 2022 to the association of Astaldi/Webuild – Tancrad, but only a small part of the route entered the site, having the necessary authorizations to start the construction. The segment includes, in addition to the Călinești Ecoduct, almost 50 bridges and passages, two road knots and Poiana tunnel, 1.8 kilometers. The estimated deadline for completing the works is the year 2028.

The Boița viaduct, the most visible advance

On the route of the future highway that will pass through the Olt Valley, the most visible progress were made at the entrance to the gorge, where the Boița viaduct, about 700 meters long.

The works on the viaduct in the vicinity of the future Boița Road Node (between A1 and A13) began in 2024, and so far the support structures have been erected, and some of the prefabricated beams have already been mounted.

In this area will be built two tunnels, one with a length of 250 meters and another 360 meters, which do not yet have the necessary authorizations to start the works. Two other tunnels, with a total length of 1.4 kilometers, will be built in the area of ​​Lazaret. There will also be a wild animal ecoduct, which will cross DN7, the railway line and the Olt river.

In the town of Câinenii Mari, the project provides for the construction of a tunnel of 1.6 kilometers, and in the balloon of a tunnel of about 455 meters. In the absence of authorizations, the works could not start on the segment that includes these tunnels and the Lazaret ecoduct.

Work at Robești tunnel

Instead, recently, Turkish builders mobilized their workers and equipment for digging the first tunnel of the Defileu highway, built on the left slope of the Olt Valley, in Robești, above the dam and Robești hydroelectric.

“The tunnel will have a length of 900 meters, two lanes per direction, being made up of two galleries. Between the galleries will be excavated other galleries of large diameters, for the access of the intervention forces in case of problems. It is the first tunnel for which the execution will be started on section 2 of A1 Sibiu – Pitești. These will be completed ”, transmitted the Regional Directorate of Roads and Bridges Craiova.

The first “bridge for bears” in the site

Near the Cornetu Monastery, at the end of the motorway section on the Olt Valley, the land for the future Călinești is arranged. The work is considered, along with the Lazaret ecoduct, a future safe way of moving wild animals, in an area populated by bears, in the Căpățânii, Cozia and Făgăraș Mountains.

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The area of ​​the future Ecoduct from Călinești Photo Daniel Guță Adevărul (5) JPG

The construction will have a minimum width of 100 meters and a length of over 300 meters. This will cross the national road DN7, the CF201 railway and the Olt river, in the KM 45 – 300 – 45+750 area, north of the town of Călinești, about 300 meters south of the DJ703M bridge and the future Cornetu Road Node.

“The structure consists of four openings: a central main opening and three marginal openings. The superstructure, of the vault type, supports the reinforced concrete tank, directly in the key area and through some walls. crosses the Olt River ”is shown in the technical project.

For the Ecoduct from Călinești, the arrangement, by planting of vegetation, of an access zone of about 1.2 hectares on the left bank of the Olt, says the designers. Currently, works of accessing the access path of the machines on the left bank of the Olt, towards the Ecoduct site, are taking place, and on the other shore its foundation is built.

“The two ecoducts (from Călinești and the south of Lazaret) represent a minimum measure of insurance and recovery of ecological connectivity in the area of ​​existing barriers, contributing to avoiding a significant cumulative impact on the biodiversity elements, Făgăraș and Cozia Mountains,” shows the highway project.

The completion of the Călinești Ecoduct is estimated for the beginning of 2027.

The first highway that crosses the Carpathians

The A1 Sibiu – Pitești highway has a length of 122 kilometers (without the Sibiu Belt). Its route was divided into five sections, for which the Romanian state and the builders signed design and execution contracts during 2019 – 2022.

So far, section 1 Sibiu – Boița, 14 kilometers, and recently, section 5 Curtea de Argeș – Pitesti, 30 kilometers, have been opened. Three other sections, which will mostly cross the Olt Gorge, between the localities of Boița and Curtea de Argeș, are in the site and have a deadline between 2027 – 2028. They total about 79 kilometers.

Sibiu – Pitești highway, part of the A1 Nădlac – Bucharest highway (580 kilometers), is the first to cross the Carpathian Mountains and will ensure, on the territory of Romania, the connection to the East -West axis (Constanța – Nădlac).