Turning the First Sod for Lot 3.3 of Struma Motorway

30 August 2016

An official groundbreaking ceremony for Lot 3.3, Kresna – Sandanski section from km 397 000 to km 420 624 took place on 30 August 2016. The total length of Lot 3.3 is about 23.6 km. It is part of the project Struma Motorway - Lot 3.1, Lot 3.3 and Tunnel Zheleznitsa. PATSTROY-92 AD is a partner in Struma Lot 3.3 Consortium which has been awarded to be the contractor of Lot 3.3.

The event was attended by the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Mrs. Lilyana Pavlova, the Chairman of the Management Board of Road Infrastructure Agency M.Eng. Lazar Lazarov and other official guests.

It is a design-build project co-financed by the EU Cohesion Fund and the state budget under the Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure 2014-2020, Priority axis 2 - Development of road infrastructure along the core and comprehensive Trans-European Transport Network.

Lot 3 of Struma Motorway (Blagoevgrad - Sandanski) is divided into three subsections - Lot 3.1 between Blagoevgrad and Krupnik, Lot 3.2 between Krupnik and Kresna, and Lot 3.3 between Kresna and Sandanski. The larger part of Struma Motorway alignment passes parallel to the Struma River and the existing road E-79 which will be fully preserved. Two road junctions are envisaged to be built on Lot 3.3 section - near the village of Strumyani and near the town of Sandanski. In addition, 27 large bridge structures in total length of 2,985 m are to be erected, four recreation grounds, 16 local and agriculture road crossings as well as numerous crossings for utility communication networks. 

For the first time in a motorway project in Bulgaria, Intelligent Transport Systems will be installed and integrated in the new Lot 3.3 section. They provide advanced solutions for vehicle counting and classification, real-time traffic monitoring, weigh-in-motion and weather monitoring stations.

The newly built road infrastructure will contribute to the development of the region by improving workforce mobility and economic competitiveness within the international transport network.