Bulgarian Transport Chief Pledges Major New Tunnels at Global Forum

Bulgaria's government is to work on several major tunnel projects in the next decade. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria's government is about to emphasize several tunnel infrastructure projects, Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski pledged in Sofia at the opening of GEO PROJECTS 2011, a global forum on geotechnical and tunnel construction.

The conference featured as participants the President of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association In-Mo Lee and the Association's Executive Director Olivier Vion.

"Geotechnical and tunnel construction will find major applications in Bulgaria during the next program period of EU Operational Program "Transport," Moskovski declared at the opening of the forum hosted by the Bulgarian Association of Geotechnical and Tunnel Construction.

He said that in 2014-2020, Bulgaria's authorities will be building an 11-km tunnel as part of Lot 3 of the Struma Highway, which is to connect Sofia to the Greek border; a number of tunnels are also planned at the construction of the new Sofia-Vidin railway line as well as the Sofia-Septemvri-Plovdiv railway line.

The further expansion of the Sofia Metro will also necessitate major tunnel construction capabilities, the Minister of Transport pointed out.

Moskovski also said the Bulgarian government is yet to pursue the project for the long-delayed and long-hoped for construction of a tunnel under the Shipka Pass in the Stara Planina (Balkan) Mountain, which is supposed to be become an infrastructure facility of key importance to connect Northern and Southern Bulgaria.

New technologies and methods in tunnel and geotechnical construction have a major role in the development of the transport sector and making it more competitive, more hi-tech, and more efficient," Moskovski declared before the participants at the international forum.

The Bulgarian Association of Geotechnical and Tunnel Construction was founded December 2010 in an effort to unite and defend the interests of the sector in the country and to forge international ties.

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