Slovenia completes Karavanke tunnel tube excavation

With the construction of the additional tube, traffic will flow faster, safer, with greater capacity and in accordance with the most modern guidelines in the field of road infrastructure, the Slovenian government said in a statement on Monday.

On the Austrian side of the tunnel, Asfinag, a government-owned company that manages the country’s highway system, reached the Slovenian border already two years ago, while excavating the Slovenian section has been more demanding due to geological complexities, supervising engineer Milan Crepinsek said in December.

Turkey's Cengiz was in charge of the breakthrough under a contract signed with Slovenian state-owned motorway company DARS for the 120 million euro ($130 million) project at the end of January 2020. A month later, the European Investment Bank (EIB) said it was lending 90 million euro to cover project costs.

The construction of the second tube of the 3,546 metres-long tunnel, which is a key road link between Slovenia and Austria, started in August 2020.

($ = 0.92213 euro)