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The section of Egnatia Motorway that runs through Epirus and extends from Igoumenitsa Port to Panagia is 123 km long. To date, the total of Egnatia in Epirus has been completed and opened to traffic with the exception of one bridge (T9-T11), 400 m long, on the section Arachos-Peristeri, which will soon be completed.
The motorway has been constructed as a dual carriageway, separated by a central reserve, with two traffic lanes and a hard shoulder per direction. It has a total width of 22 m.
It is one of the most difficult, from a technical point of view, sections of Egnatia Motorway due to the difficult geomorphology of the road traversal zone (the axis intersects vertically Pindos Mountain) and the serious geological problems that significally determined the alternatives of the motorway alignment.
Approximately 30% of the Egnatia Motorway total length in Epirus comprises of major technical projects. In particular, 32 twin bore tunnels covering 30 km of motorway (58 km of single carriageway) are under construction. Many split-deck bridges are also under construction covering 7.5 km of motorway (15 km of single carriageway). 5 from the bridges have total length larger than 500 m. Moreover, 13 I/Cs have been constructed.
Some significant structures are:
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Twin bore Dodoni tunnel, 3.3 km long (per carriageway) |
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Twin bore Driskos tunnel, 4.5 km (per carriageway) which is also the Egnatia Motorway largest tunnel |
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Twin bore Metsovo tunnel, 3.5 km long |
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Metsovitikos and Arachthos river bridges are structures of particular interest, constructed on areas of exquisite natural beauty. Arachthos river bridge is approximately 1.000 m long, while Metsovitikos river bridge is 530 m. long and has big pier heights (>100m.) and span of 230 m. |
The total cost for the completion of 123 km in Epirus amounts to € 2.2 B (exclusive of VAT). The project is being funded by national and community funds (50%) in the context of CSF II & III programs (OP-RAPUD and Epirus ROP) and Cohesion Fund. Part of the national contribution has been covered by the European Investment Bank (EIB) loans.
(Click on the pictures for a larger version)
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