Photo what the machine that will drill the longest tunnel of the Sibiu – Pitești highway looks. When will work in the mountain begin
Where will section 2 of the A1 Sibiu – Pitesti / Source: YouTube capture
The longest through the mountains on the A1 – Pitești highway will be built on lot 2 by an Italian builder. Unlike the rest of the tunnels on A1 which are sequentially excavated, the tunnel from Poiana will be drilled continuously with a specialized machine, a drilling machine called TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), similar, but higher than those used in drilling the subway or railway.
The tunnel from Poiana will measure about 1.78 kilometers in length. It is part of the contract for the A1 Sibiu – Pitesti highway, section 3 (37.4 km), contracted in 2022 with the Italians from Webuild for about 5.3 billion lei (1.1 billion lei).
Poiana tunnel will be drilled with a TBM
The tunnel will be drilled with a TB purchased by the manufacturer, as opposed to the rest of the A1 tunnels that are excavated by NATM (New Austrian Tunneling Method) technology that involves gradual excavation and reinforcement of the tunnel with concrete as it is advanced.
“The drilling facility has entered the manufacturer tests and is to be disassembled and transported to the country. It will arrive in Constanța port in October after which Agabaritic transports will be organized. About March of next year, we set the start of the tunnel drilling,” said the Secretary of State in Transport Irinel-Ionel Scrioșteanu.
In the picture you can see how the drilling head of the “Cârţiței” was painted in the colors of the flags of Italy and Romania.
The Poiana tunnel will have a length of 1.78 km and will consist of 2 galleries with 2 lanes per direction.
In contrast, the Momaia tunnel at which the Austrians from PORR currently work on section 4 is 1.35 km long – the drilling there began in the autumn of 2023, the piercing took place this year, but the completion of the tunnel will take place in 2026.
“The most complex road works that our country has seen so far”
The 37.4 kilometers of section 3 of the A1 Sibiu-Pitești highway will be a true “highway”, explains the Pro Infrastructure Association, one of the organizations in the civil society that monitors the implementation of the big infrastructure projects.
“” Coacked on the slopes, crochets over the most complex road works that our country has seen so far, at great competition with the neighboring lot. There are 52 bridges, passages and viaducts that put together about 15 km. Not only the length matters: many short structures have very high piles because they will be a very high piles. KM at the Poiana tunnel, but also the Călinești Ecoduct, a bridge for animals over DN7, the railway and the Olt River.
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Currently, the Webuild manufacturer has building permits only on a part of the section.
“The excellent mobilization of the Italians on the authorized segments is also a glove over the face of the Turkish neighbors from Mapa-Cengiz who have so far managed to be shame. .
“If the necessary building permits will not be issued at the latest in the spring of 2026, the opening of traffic on the nearly 38 kilometers until the end of 2029 becomes practically an impossible mission, given the complexity of the works, the terribly difficult access and the available execution window towards the plains,” the civic organization also notes.
Video – what the route of section 3 in A1 Sibiu – Pitesti looks like:
*Poiana tunnel area appears in video at 12.20 minutes
A1 Sibiu – Pitești, Section 3 (Cornetu – Tigveni)
- Length: 37.4 km
- MANUFACTURER: Webuild (Italy)
- Value: 5.3 billion lei
- Signed contract: August 2022
- Term: 12 months design, 45 months execution
- Order to start works: February 2023
- Work started in the field: February 2025
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The stage of works on each section of the A1 Sibiu – Pitești highway
The Sibiu – Piteşti highway would have a length of over 122 kilometers and is divided into 5 sections, and will connect the center and western Romania to the European Highway Network, being an important part of the Pan -European corridor.
- On A1 Sibiu – Pitești the traffic was opened in December 2022 on Section 1 (13,17km from Sibiu to Boița – Builder Porr).
- On Section 2 Cornetu – Boița (31.3 km)the most difficult portion that passes through the Olt Valley and involves the creation of seven tunnels, CNAIR signed a contract of 860 million euros in February 2022 with a company from Turkey. At the end of 2024, a series of works began at a viaduct at the end of Boița, and in 2025 the first mountain works on the route started.
- On Section 3 Tigveni – Cornetu (37.4 km), An association of builders from Italy and Romania signed in August 2022 the contract for the most expensive highway auction ever launched in Romania. On this section the builder was in the design period and the works preceding the site start. The works started at the beginning of 2025.
- On Section 4 Curtea de Argeș – Tigveni The Austrians from Porr started in the autumn of 2023 and currently they completely drilled the two galleries of the Momaia tunnel.
- In December 2024, the circulation on Section 5 Pitești – Curtea de Argeș On about 15 km from Bascov (Pitești) at the Road Node Merișani. Webuild builder (formerly Astaldi) then continued to work on the rest of the section and opened traffic for the rest of about 15 km to Curtea de Argeș in June.
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