The last section of the Orastie-Sibiu highway, in the central region of Romania, will be inaugurated on Friday, November 14, according to Narcis Neaga, general manager of the National Highways and Roads Company – CNADNR, quoted by local Capital. The opening comes just two days before the second round of the presidential elections, on November 16.

The 22-kilometer stretch of highway between the villages of Saliste and Cunta includes the largest viaduct in Romania. The viaduct is located near the village of Aciliu and is 1-kilometer long. Its tallest section is 77-meter high, which is the equivalent of the Intercontinental hotel in Bucharest’s city center, which is the tallest hotel in Romania.

The same highway section was supposed to have a tunnel through a hill, just before the viaduct, but the roads company gave up on it due to the high costs and asked the construction company to cut through the hill instead. This, however, caused landslides which delayed the opening of the whole highway section. The initial term for finalizing this section was initially spring 2013.

The other three sections of highway between Sibiu and Orastie were all inaugurated in 2013, as was the section between Orastie and Deva. After this final segment will be opened for traffic, drivers will be able to make the 115-kilometer drive from Sibiu to Deva in under one hour.

The four highway sections between Sibiu and Orastie, which add to a total of 82 kilometers, have cost about EUR 580 million (VAT not included), of which EUR 492 million were non-reimbursable EU funds. The 22-kilometer section to be inaugurated on Friday was the most expensive, with an estimated cost of EUR 137 million, according to CNADNR data. The contractor was Italian group Impregilo.

The highway 32-5 kilometer highway section between Orastie and Deva had a total cost of EUR 204 million. Thus, the total cost for the 115 kilometers of highway between Sibiu and Deva was EUR 784 million, which translates into an average cost per kilometer of EUR 6.8 million.

The highway between Sibiu and Deva is part of Pan-European Corridor number IV, which goes from Dresden and Nuremberg in Germany to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta, passing through Prague, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. In Romania, the corridor starts at Nadlac, in Western Romania and goes to Constanta.

The corridor currently has three highway sections longer than 100 kilometers: Constanta – Bucharest (203 km), Bucharest – Pitesti (116 km) and Sibiu – Deva (115 km). More highway sections are currently under construction between Deva and Arad, going through Lugoj and Timisoara.

The major problem is passing the Carpathian Mountains with a highway from Sibiu to Pitesti. It’s still uncertain whether the state will make this highway or not, although it would also be 85% financed by the European Union.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Euro Construct Trading '98 website)