— News — Foundations of Southern Warsaw Bypass – Watch the first ride through the tunnel

Reduced noise and CO₂ emissions

As cities grow, increased traffic means traffic jams and smog. That is why it is important to invest in road infrastructure and develop public transport. Improving the comfort of traveling is important but the key aspect in the near future will be the need to reduce CO₂ emissions and ensure the comfort of life for people living in the immediate vicinity of such investments. Giving ground space to pedestrian and bicycle traffic in the districts through which the expressway hidden in the tunnel runs, not only contributes to reducing environmental pollution, but also reduces the noise level.

Shorter travel time between districts

The tunnel is part of the S2 route, which in the capital city took the name of the Southern Warsaw Bypass. The investment will not only help drivers who go further to bypass the city, but also shorten the travel time between the districts for Warsaw residents.

The section running through Ursynów (district of Warsaw) is designated as task A (POW A). Its implementation was entrusted by the General Directorate of National Roads and Motorways to Astaldi S.p.A. in the scope of general contracting, for which Soletanche Polska performed foundations in diaphragm wall technology.

The tunnel is 2.3 km long and includes three aisles. Between the two aisles, each of which will contain three lanes of movements, a central aisle has been built, serving as a ventilation function. Soletanche Polska built the individual walls using diaphragm walls technology. The facility is built using the top-and-down method, consisting in making a trench secured by appropriate supporting structures, i.e. diaphragm walls and a spreading ceiling.

Diaphragm walls in numbers:

• Soletanche Polska made 4 km of diaphragm walls
• 670 sections of diaphragm walls
• The work was performed by 4 brigades
• The depth of the walls on the section implemented by Soletanche Polska ranges from 12 to 20 meters.

 

Logistic and communication was the key to the success

Logistics and communication between all entities performing their scopes and contractual tasks were key for such a large and extensive facility. In the culminating moment, 6 diaphragm wall sets were working at the construction site, 3 of which belonged to Soletanche Polska.

“The good cooperation between the brigades was very important for the planning of concrete deliveries to individual sections. In order to minimize the risk of downtime caused by the wait for the delivery of raw material, concrete was ordered in such a way that the brigades could carry out the work one after another or share the raw material. This process was greatly improved by the implementation by the general contractor Astaldi S.p.A. of a concrete mixing plant near Pileckiego Street which was dedicated exclusively to the construction of POW A. Thanks to this procedure, the route of concrete delivery has shortened. It is especially acute in a large city like Warsaw.”, said Dawid Skowroński, Site Manager, Soletanche Polska.

Execution of works were carried out from April 2018 to September 2019. Over the last months, as the tunnel excavation progressed, we performed the so-called cosmetic work, that is, cleaning the walls and preparing them for technical acceptance.