Tunnel underneath the Vistula River
The construction of a tunnel under the Vistula River in Gdansk (Poland) represents a strategic infrastructure project, located in the vicinity of the Baltic Sea’s major deepwater port and considered a key megahub in Eastern Europe. The project includes 2.4 km of highway, of which 1.1 km were excavated using a 12.6-meter diameter hydroshield tunnel-boring machine (TBM), specifically designed for this development.
It is noteworthy that this project marked the company as the first Spanish firm to construct a tunnel beneath a river navigation channel abroad using a hydroshield TBM. It is also the first road tunnel built in Poland and the largest executed in the country using a tunnel-boring machine. The tunnel features an internal diameter of 11 meters, accommodating a two-lane carriageway with 3.5-meter-wide lanes, 50 cm and 70 cm shoulders, and two 1-meter-wide pedestrian walkways.
During the construction of the tunnels under the Vistula River, the project team received several awards, including the first prize in the “Safe Construction” competition (2012 and 2014), granted by the Regional Employment Inspectorate of Pomerania; the first prize in the urban works category at the VII Potencia Awards (2013), recognizing the application of innovative, efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions; and the “Construction Project of the Year 2015” award, presented by the Polish Construction Engineers and Technicians Association (PZITB), in collaboration with the Main Inspection Office for the Construction Industry and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Construction, one month after its opening to traffic on April 24, 2016.