Kresna Gorge Tunnel

Kresna Gorge Tunnel

Overview
Location	Kresna Gorge, Bulgaria
Coordinates	41°46′7″N 23°9′18″E / 41.76861°N 23.15500°E / 41.76861; 23.15500Coordinates: 41°46′7″N 23°9′18″E / 41.76861°N 23.15500°E / 41.76861; 23.15500 Kresna Gorge Tunnel (Bulgaria)
Status	Cancelled
Route	A3 (Struma motorway), E79
Start	Krupnik, Bulgaria
End	Kresna, Bulgaria
Operation
Operator	NCSIP
Traffic	automobile
Character	motorway, twin-tube
Toll	no
Technical
Length	15.385 km (9.560 mi) east tube, 15.410 km (9.575 mi) west tube
No. of lanes	2 x 2

Kresna Gorge Tunnel was a planned twin-tube tunnel in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria. The tunnel would be part of Struma motorway (A3), that runs between Sofia and the border crossing to Greece, at the village of Kulata.

The proposed length of the tunnel of over 15 km would place it among the longest road tunnels in the world. The main reason to build a motorway tunnel of such length was to protect the environment in the Kresna Gorge.

The design works of the tunnel began in 2013.^[1] The construction was expected to begin in 2016,^[2] using the New Austrian Tunnelling method due to the diverse geology in the Kresna gorge, which makes the usage of TBM inapplicable.^[3] The construction costs along with the access roads were estimated at 1.1 billion levs (~560 million euro).^[4] As of 2015, plans were abandoned and an alternative route east of the gorge is being considered, which will involve a series of shorter tunnels and viaducts.^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Presentation of Kresna Gorge Tunnel at NCSIP, June 2014 (in Bulgarian)
• Alternative Aligments (2011) at NCSIP
• Strategy for Construction (2011) at NCSIP
• Contract for Conceptual Design (29 July 2013) .pdf, at NCSIP (in Bulgarian)

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