The second tube of the Učka Tunnel has been officially opened for traffic

The second tube of the Učka Tunnel was officially opened on Friday. Valued at some two hundred million euros, its construction lasted more than three years. At more than five and a half kilometers long, Učka is the third longest tunnel in Croatia, after Mala Kapela and Sveti Rok.

The first tube of the tunnel was opened in 1981, however, with only one lane in each direction, it was a bottleneck for traffic during the peak tourism season. Deputy Prime Minister and Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Minister Oleg Butković: “The project entailed building a highway on the Istrian side, from Pazin to the Učka Tunnel, the second tube itself, and obviously the final stage on the Rijeka side of the tunnel to Matulji, which is already under construction and will be completed by 2026. So, we will then have the A8 highway completely finished.”

The project was not without its challenges however. The director of the BINA Istra Motorways Company, Dario Silić: “Using the explosives close to traffic was one of the biggest challenges we faced. Closing the existing tube was not an option, because that would have caused a complete collapse in traffic. More than one thousand tons of liquid explosives were used in the process. Additionally, we didn't expect to encounter such a large number of caves and fissures, more than thirty of them. The geology was much worse than in the existing tube. Each time you come across a cave or fissure you have to call in the inspectors and speleologists to see if it is an aquifer, so we lost a little time on that. But, we're happy to say that all of the works were completed on time.”

Prior to departing for the official opening ceremony, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković commented on the tunnel's completion at today's cabinet session: “I want to thank everyone, all of the companies and workers that were involved in this project, and a special thanks to Minister Butković and his team, who ensured that the project come to fruition, and we look forward to attending this afternoon's official opening.”

Source: HRT