The conference, which took place prior to the new year, discussed the upcoming changes that will be implemented in the city of Rijeka. The conference was organized by Novi list in cooperation with partners from ACI, Bina Istra, Hrvatske cesta, HŽ Infrastruktura and Rijeka Port Authority. Oleg Butković, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure attended the event as well as Dario Silic, SSBM professor and general director of BINA ISTRA participated as a guest speaker and panelist.
The general director of BINA Istria, Dario Silić, spoke about the current state of the work on constructing the second pipe through Ucka, the complexity of the process and the year of delivery. As he explained, they started the investment cycle with the team of Minister Butkovic back in 2018, when they worked on creating prerequisites for the second pipe worth approximately 200 million euros.
In December 2020, they started with the 1.9-kilometer section of Vranja Ucka, which is ready and should be put into public use on March 1 next year; so almost 2 kilometers over the Drinscak viaduct. The entrance to the second pipe was drilled on one side and on the other back in 2020, and the completion of the drilling is expected from June to September next year.
– We had a bit of trouble with the geology because it is completely different from the geology of the existing pipes of the Ucka tunnel. There were two minor problems, one was the poor quality of the materials, clay and sediments. We attacked with liquid explosives, so that instead of the planned twenty meters a day, we advanced approximately five to six meters for the last two months. Dario Silic, PhD
Now we hit a rock again, and additionally we have caves, cracks, which were a total of 42 in the new pipe. So far, we have also introduced a third shift, we work on weekends, we have gained an additional month of days, reduced delays. If everything coincides, first the breakthrough, and then the equipment and putting it into circulation in June 2024, Silić points out and adds that from June until August of next year, the breakthrough is expected.
Photo credits: Vedran Karuza
