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AP-7 tunnel in Pilar de la Horadada finally scheduled to reopen
Traffic has been blocked from travelling on the Cartagena-bound road since May 9
After a series of delays, the Ministry of Transport has confirmed that the Cartagena-bound lane of the Pilar de la Horadada AP-7 tunnel will reopen to traffic this Thursday July 3.
Located at kilometre 772 of the motorway, the busy road has been closed off since May 9 following a serious crash inside the tunnel which tragically killed a truck driver.
The lorry lost control and flipped over, bursting into flames and causing thousands of euros worth of damage to the tunnel.
Since the accident, Ministry sources say crews have "worked intensively" using "all available resources to minimise the time it takes to repair the damage.”
It’s expected that this month alone, the 800-metre-long tunnel will handle more than 20,000 vehicles each and every day.
The work consisted of repairing all the power and communications cables, including the cable trays that support them, surveillance cameras, lighting equipment, SOS posts and even a pair of large indoor fans.
The damaged road surface and the fire hydrant system have also been replaced.
The tunnel suffered no apparent structural damage, although the opportunity was taken to analyse the possible loss of strength of the concrete vault due to its exposure to the high temperatures caused by the vehicle fire.
These repair works have overlapped with those being carried out by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to improve energy efficiency through intelligent lighting management and the improvement of the tunnel's safety facilities. The ministry has confirmed that they are being carried out despite the delay caused by the accident.
The entire project has a current budget of €3.5 million, financed by European Next Generation funds, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR).
Due to the urgent repairs, the schedule for these modernisation works has been modified, postponing the work that was scheduled for May and June until the autumn, when traffic will calm down significantly.
This work will also require complete road closures in the tunnel. These closures will be scheduled during off-peak hours to minimise disruption to road users and will be announced in due course.
Image: Google Maps
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