Niepołomice Interchange – the power of partnership!

27 August 2020

Since 22 June drivers can use the new Niepołomice interchange in the stretch of the A4 motorway, at the crossing with the DW 964 regional road – a project strategically important for Lesser Poland. The construction work was completed – two weeks before the declared deadline (!) – by a consortium of companies: Trakcja PRKiI (leader) and Lithuanian Akcine Bendrove “KAUNO TILTAI” (partner).

The citizens of Niepołomice and entrepreneurs of the Niepołomice investment zone had been waiting 10 years for this “section” of the motorway. It is even more satisfying that Trakcja PRKiI delivered the project 2 weeks before the declared deadline, which in the tender was anyway shortened from 18 to 15 months of execution (without winter periods).

- For a quality investment of this kind to be delivered on time, there must be excellent, partnership-based cooperation between all parties involved. I would like to wish all contractors so well-prepared and so cooperative projects and users a safe and peaceful ride," concluded Marcin Lewandowski, President of the Management Board, CEO of Trakcja PRKiI S.A.

“The construction of the interchange in the stretch of the A4 motorway Kraków – Tarnów from km 435+216,38 to km 436+069,27 in the section Kraków Wieliczka interchange – Targowisko interchange and the extension of the DW 964 regional road together with the construction and reconstruction of the technical infrastructure and the change in the stretch of the Podłężanka and Zakrzowianka streams” started at the end of September 2018 and cost less than PLN 43 million gross.

Due to the wide range of construction works and numerous logistical challenges associated with carrying out the works without excluding roads from traffic, the construction required a qualified contractor with professional staff and appropriate resources of highly specialised equipment. Once again, Trakcja PRKiI has shown that efficient running of large and – as it turned out – difficult projects is standard in its services.

The scope of works carried out at the Niepołomice interchange:

• construction of 340 m and 370 m long acceleration lanes and 270 m and 280 m deceleration lanes on the A4 motorway,
• construction of a full road interchange, i.e. slip roads for the entry and exit routes,
  
• reconstruction of a DW964 road section – extension to 3 lanes,
  
• construction of 2 roundabouts at the crossing of the DW964 road with motorway slip roads: 3-leg with a diameter of Ø41m and 4-leg with a diameter of Ø45m,
  
• construction of corrugated sheet metal civil structures type MultiPlate MP200 (a culvert on the southern side with the following dimensions: length 52 m, height 6.7 m, width 7.68 m and a culvert on the northern side with the following dimensions: length 48 m, height 6.7 m, width 7.68 m),
  
• construction of channels for the Podłężanka and Zakrzowianka streams with gabion walls on the slopes,
  
• construction of service roads, width 3.5 m and 5.0 m,
  
• construction of noise walls, protective barriers and highway fencing,
  
• construction of road lighting in the stretch of the A4 motorway, MV buried network, MV overhead network, LV overhead network, telecommunication conduit system (service duct), storm sewer system, storm sewer connections,
  
• construction of paved paths, road lighting, MV overhead network, telecommunication conduit system, storm sewer, gas network, foul drainage, telecommunication system, water mains - in the stretch of the DW964 regional road.
  

A challenge for the team were the earthworks (excavations for the Muliplate culverts) in the Zakrzowianka riverbed, which – with a high level of groundwater under pressure – did not allow for effective drainage of the work area. In this case, the experience and expertise of the contractor was particularly rewarding. The contractor solved the problem by building 6 deep water wells (per culvert), from which water was pumped for 3 months, 24 hours a day, in order to lower and maintain the appropriate level of the water surface.

Project in figures:

• excavations: 24,000 m3
• embankments: 100,000 m3
• reinforcement of the ground: 3183 displacement piles
• 28,000 m2 mattress made of aggregate reinforced with GFRP high strength and corrosion resistance glass fibre composite rods
• bituminous mastic: 16,800 tonnes
• 5.4 km long single-sided steel road barriers
• noise walls, height 4 m and 5 m, length 0.5 km
• motorway fencing, height 2.0 m, with refining and guiding fences for amphibians, length 1.7 km
• more than 3 km of tight lined channel.
  
  

Drivers have been using the new road interchange on the A4 since yesterday – 22 June, when it was officially opened. The ceremony of handing over the investment to users was attended by many distinguished guests, including the Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk, MPs Urszula Rusecka, Rafał Bochenek, Stanisław Bukowiec and the Governor of Lesser Poland Piotr Ćwik.

The construction of the new Niepołomice motorway interchange was commissioned by the State Treasury, represented by the General Director of National Roads and Motorways in Kraków, the municipality of Niepołomice and the Regional Roads Authority in Kraków. Trakcja PRKiI is an experienced construction partner in large infrastructure projects, both for state institutions and local authorities.