New Coridor 10 section to open by the end of November – Road workers connect Pirot and Dimitrovgrad

The first next highway section in Serbia to open is the one between Pirot and Dimitrovgrad, on the eastern branch of Corridor 10. The Corridors of Serbia say that the works on the 14.3 m long section are close to being completed and that the section will open for traffic by the end of this month. The exact date has not yet been set, but Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has announced that the opening will take place in 15 to 20 days.

If everything had gone according to plan, the section would have opened in May 2012. The construction started exactly six years ago, in November 2010, when Austria’s Alpina was selected as the contractor, and the construction deadline was 18 months. Due to the company’s bankruptcy, the works stopped, and the contract with Bulgaria’s Trace Group was signed in April 2014. The company was given 450 days to complete the job. This was later extended as well, so the populace in this area and all those who travel to Bulgaria are happy to learn that the works are nearing the end at last.

The length of the eastern branch of Corridor 10 is 86.6 kilometers, and 69.4 km will be completed by the end of the year. In 2017, it only remains for the workers to complete the sections from the Nacarevo tunnel to Crvena Reka, which should take until late 2017, and the bypass route around Dimitrovgrad, which is supposed to be completed by April.

– The works on the route between Prosek and the Bancarevo tunnel in the length of 9.4 km, carried out by Greece’s Terna, should also be completed by the end of this month, whereas the completion of Bancarevo tunnel, carried out by the Czech company Subtera, is planned for December – they say at the Corridors.

– Last December, 13 kilometers from Crvena Reka to Ciflik were opened for traffic, whereas three lanes in the length of 12.2 km from Ciflik to Stanicenje were completed at the same time and the other half-profile will be ready in December.

The same deadline pertains to the Stanicenje-Pirot section with the length of 16.6 kilometers, being built by Greece’s Aktor.

Six years for seven kilometers

The bypass route around Dimitrovgrad has so far proven to be the section with the worst luck. These seven kilometers are currently being worked on by the third contractor, Greece’s Aktor. The works on this section were started by Austria’s Alpina back in 2010 and they were supposed to be completed by April 2012. Following their bankruptcy, a new contractor was selected, Bulgaria’s Trace Group, but his company also failed to complete the route and the contract was terminated. Aktor then got the job and they have been given a deadline until April to finally complete the 7 km section leading to the Bulgarian border.

Koridori Srbije d.o.o. Beograd

Alpine d.o.o. Beograd

TRACE GROUP HOLD PLC OGRANAK BEOGRAD

AKTOR A.T.E. Ogranak Beograd

Corridors of Serbia

Pirot Dimitrovgrad highway

Corridor 10

Alpina

Trace Group

Aktor

Bancarevo tunnel

Crvena Reka

Ciflik

Stanicenje

bypass route around Dimitrovgrad

Prosek

Subtera

Terna