New Kosova Report

Albania making progress on the highway connecting to Kosovo

Wednesday, 01 October 2008

Sixty percent of the work on a crucial tunnel on the highway connecting Albania and Kosovo has been completed.

The Kalimash tunnel is 60% complete with 6.8 km of the tunnel drilled and 2.6 km remaining.

In another segment south of the tunnel, 27 bridges are being constructed. This segment will take 385 pillars, with 190 of them already in place.

The constructor Bechtel-Enka is using seven other bridges already completed. The pillars for the highest bridge are in place as well, hovering 80 m above a valley.

Currently active on the project are 3,700 workers with 13.4 million working hours completed by the end of August. Some 1,300 types of machinery and trucks are in use.

The highway connecting the central Albanian port of Durrës with the town of Kukës in northern Albania in the border with Kosovo and onwards towards Prishtina in Kosovo and Nis in Serbia is over budget but is deemed crucial for linking up Kosovo and Albania. This is the most serious road infrastructure project undertaken by Albania and Kosovo so far. The Albanian section will reduce the road by 45 km and cut the travel time to 2 hours from the 6 hours of the mountain trek that it is today.

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Amer said:

	... How is work on this road in Kosova coming? Can the government use any of the money from the Donors' Conference for this project?
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October 07, 2008
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Fatlum G said:

	... I'd like to know how much money this highway is likely to be in the end and the completion date. I've heard news of corruption too; which isn't too surprising, it is Albania after all, but I'm sure hope those people are dealt with. Either way, this will be a huge boost for both economies and will bring together the Albanian people much closer together.
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