First bitumen at the construction site of the channel

A new road 501 is being built on the Vistula Spit. The first bitumen layers have already been laid. The road will run through two new bridges. In their area and in the supports, a power supply is currently being executed to allow the bridges to be alternately closed and opened. Thanks to this, car traffic will not be disrupted. Intensive work is also underway within the Gulf of Gdańsk, the shipping channel as well as the artificial island.

“Works on the construction of a waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdańsk are going according to schedule. In April, we signed a contract for the second stage of this project; we can therefore say that most of the project is underway. We plan to complete this investment in 2023,” said Andrzej Adamczyk, Minister of Infrastructure.

“On the eastern side of the shipping channel, a seven-centimetre-thick asphalt concrete foundation has just been laid. The surface was sprinkled to maintain inter-layer adhesion,” explains Katarzyna Niemyska, Road Works Manager in the NDI/Besix consortium. ”The next step will be a five-centimetre-thick binder course. When laying mineral and asphalt mixtures, the technology of their compaction is important. Also, thanks to the proper work of the rollers, we can obtain such compaction of the mixture that the road has the right load-bearing capacity.”

Two new bridges are being built along the road 501 under construction. Currently, works related to the assembly of the steel structure of the mechanics and hydraulics elements of the northern bridge are underway. On the southern bridge, pavements were made on sidewalks and on the roadway. Crash barriers and balustrades were installed, and tightness tests of hydraulic and power supply systems were carried out. A power of 100 kW will be required for the bridges to rotate. The same amount is needed to power all loads located in their support.

“We have already set up a transformer station and we connect all the loads and power supply from the cable connector,” says Dorota Serek, Manager of Electrical and Telecommunication Works in the NDI/Besix consortium. ”At the same time, we are building a harbourmaster’s office, where electrical installations are created. We are currently installing a lightning protection system on the facade of the building.”

300 metres of drilling, 20 MBSL

The construction of the Vistula Spit channel began with the removal of clashes with power and telecommunications networks. For this purpose, two directional drillings were made – one in the southern part, and the other in the northern part.

“The longest drilling was over 300 metres long and its deepest point was 20 metres below sea level. At the moment, works related to the construction of power and lighting cable networks are underway – according to the design, we should complete approx. 30 kilometres of cables. We have already completed half of the range, i.e. 15 kilometres” reports Dorota Serek.

“At present, the main forces are focused on successfully carrying out the tests related to obtaining the permit for the use of the southern bridge. The schedule is tight because we would like to transfer the traffic to this bridge and start work on the voivodeship road 501 before the beginning of the tourist season. At this stage, virtually all works are important, but another, very important element is the eastern breakwater, which protects the external port, and this is where the contractor mobilizes forces to meet the schedule. The other fronts are also extremely interesting – other elements of the lock are concreted in the area of the bottom slab and caps in the navigation channel in its northern and southern parts,” says Andrzej Małkiewicz, Head of the Investment Implementation Department of the Maritime Office in Gdynia.

Bitumen and electricity are not the only elements that are rapidly built on the construction site. Intensive works are also carried out in the Gulf of Gdańsk, where the production of X-block plus type prefabricated concrete elements is continued. The erratic works of the sea part are also in progress – on the cofferdam of the western breakwater.

100 percent of the levelling concrete was made in the shipping channel and all CFA piles were shortened. The bottom slab of the northern gate, the southern gate, the walls of the pocket on the lock southern gate of and the bottom slabs of sections 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3B, 4B were also concreted. Reinforcement of the bottom slab of section 2A was also installed, and currently the wall reinforcement is being installed in sections 2E, 2F, 2G, 3B, 4B.
In addition, the walls on the wings on the southern channel have been made, pliers and tie rods are being installed and the underwater plug is concreted. At the turn of May and June, erratic works are to begin on the southern channel, on the western side. The eastern and western parts of the northern section of the berth quay have been concreted. The progress of works on the eastern and western sections of the berth quay is 90 percent advanced.

After the winter, the artificial island is also being built quickly. The progress of works related to driving sheet piling is 76 percent, and 39 percent for the installation of tie rods. Works related to the construction of the geotube have already started – a section of 250 linear metres has been completed.

What are the plans for the turn of spring and summer?
Among other things, the profiling of the slopes on the eastern and western breakwater and the installation of X-block plus elements. In addition, further construction of bottom plates, reinforcement and concreting in the area of the lock and the beginning of the assembly of the steel structure of the gates. The erratic works in the southern channel will also start. The last works on the enclosed structures will be completed by the end of June. The laying of the hydrotechnical stone will begin on the artificial island. Electrical, telecommunication and sanitary works will also be continued.

The contractor of construction works under the project entitled “Construction of a waterway connecting the Vistula Lagoon with the Gulf of Gdańsk – part I” is the NDI/Besix consortium.