Niepołomice Interchange – The Power of Partnership!
Since 22 June, drivers have been able to use the new Niepołomice interchange on the A4 motorway, at the junction with voivodeship road DW 964 – an investment of strategic importance for Małopolska. The construction works were carried out – two weeks ahead of the declared deadline (!) – by a consortium of Trakcja PRKiI (leader) and the Lithuanian company Akcine Bendrove “KAUNO TILTAI” (partner).
Residents of Niepołomice and businesses in the Niepołomice investment zone had waited 10 years for this “section” of the motorway. It is all the more pleasing that Trakcja PRKiI delivered the investment 2 weeks ahead of the declared deadline, which had already been shortened in the tender from 18 to 15 months of delivery (excluding winter periods).
– For an investment of this kind to be delivered on time and to a good standard, excellent, partnership-based cooperation of all the parties involved is essential. I wish all contractors such well-prepared and cooperatively run investments, and users safe and peaceful driving – concluded Marcin Lewandowski, President of the Management Board and General Director of Trakcja PRKiI S.A.
“Construction of an interchange on the A4 Kraków – Tarnów motorway from km 435+216.38 to km 436+069.27 on the Kraków Wieliczka interchange – Targowisko interchange section and expansion of voivodeship road DW 964, together with construction and reconstruction of technical infrastructure and a change in the course of the Podłężanka and Zakrzowianka streams” began at the end of September 2018 and cost less than PLN 43 million gross.
Owing to the wide scope of the construction works and numerous logistical challenges involved in carrying out the works without closing roads to traffic, the construction required a qualified contractor with a professional team of specialists and appropriate resources of highly specialised equipment. Trakcja PRKiI once again showed that the efficient delivery of large and – as it turned out – difficult investments is a standard part of its services.
Scope of works carried out at the Niepołomice interchange:
construction on the A4 motorway of merging lanes 340 m and 370 m long and diverging lanes 270 m and 280 m long,
construction of a full interchange, i.e. slip roads for the entry and exit directions,
reconstruction of a section of road DW964 – widening to 3 lanes,
construction of 2 roundabouts at the junction of road DW964 with the motorway slip roads: a 3-arm roundabout with a diameter of Ø41 m and a 4-arm roundabout with a diameter of Ø45 m,
construction of engineering structures made of corrugated steel of the MultiPlate MP200 type (a culvert on the southern side measuring: length 52 m, height 6.7 m, width 7.68 m, and a culvert on the northern side measuring: length 48 m, height 6.7 m, width 7.68 m),
construction of channels for the Podłężanka and Zakrzowianka streams with slope reinforcement using gabion baskets,
construction of service roads 3.5 m and 5.0 m wide,
construction of noise barriers, protective barriers and motorway fencing,
construction of road lighting along the A4 motorway, a medium-voltage cable network, a medium-voltage overhead network, a low-voltage overhead network, a telecommunications ducting network (technology duct), a storm sewer network, and storm sewer connections,
construction of pavements, road lighting, a medium-voltage overhead network, telecommunications cable ducting, storm sewers, a gas network, sanitary sewers, a telecommunications network and water supply – along voivodeship road DW964.
The earthworks (excavations for the Muliplate culverts) in the bed of the Zakrzowianka river proved a challenge for the team, as – with a high level of groundwater under pressure – they did not allow effective drainage of the works area. In this case, as rarely happens, the contractor’s experience and specialist knowledge paid off: it solved the problem by sinking 6 deep wells (for the culvert), from which water was pumped 24 hours a day for 3 months to lower and maintain the appropriate water table level.
The investment in numbers:
excavations: 24 thousand m3
embankments: 100 thousand m3
ground improvement: 3,183 displacement columns
28,000 m2 of aggregate mattress reinforced with GFRP composite bars made of glass fibre with high strength and corrosion resistance
bituminous mixes: 16.8 thousand tonnes
single-sided steel road barriers 5.4 km long
noise barriers 4 m and 5 m high, 0.5 km long
motorway fencing 2.0 m high, with gap-closing and guide fences for amphibians, 1.7 km long
over 3 km of reinforced sealed ditch.
Drivers have been using the new A4 interchange since yesterday – 22 June, when it was officially opened. Many distinguished guests took part in the ceremony to hand the investment over to users, including the Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk, MPs Urszula Rusecka, Rafał Bochenek and Stanisław Bukowiec, and the Małopolska Voivode Piotr Ćwik
Construction of the new Niepołomice motorway interchange was carried out on commission from the State Treasury, represented by the General Director for National Roads and Motorways in Kraków, the Municipality of Niepołomice and the Voivodeship Roads Authority in Kraków. Trakcja PRKiI is an experienced construction partner in large infrastructure investments, both for state institutions and for local government authorities.
