On 23rd, GDDKiA has released a new tender for a new tunnel. The tunnel will be the longest underwater tunnel of Poland, surpassing the Świnoupojście tunnel currently under construction by PORR and GULERMAK. It will also be the longest road tunnel in Poland. GDDKiA (Generalna Dyrekcja Dróg Krajowych i Autostrad - literally: General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways) is Poland's state authority responsible for the national roads.

Government site gov.pl makes announcement for the tender

There is a tender for documentation for the Western Bypass of Szczecin in line S6

We have announced a tender for the development of a construction design for the Western Bypass of Szczecin along the S6 expressway. This step was possible thanks to the approval of the Minister of Infrastructure at the end of November this year. Investment Program worth PLN 411.2 million. As part of the task, a construction design will be prepared, and after obtaining the decision on the permit for the implementation of a road investment (ZRID), compensation will be paid for real properties taken over for the road.

- The announcement of the tender is an extremely important step in the implementation of the investment, which will significantly improve traffic within the Szczecin agglomeration. It is also an opportunity to build the longest road tunnel in Poland. - said Tomasz Żuchowski, acting General Director for National Roads and Motorways. - We are already implementing several important and demanding tunnel investments. We are gathering more experience and we are ready to build the longest tunnel in Poland as part of the Western Bypass of Szczecin.

Tender divided into two parts

The tender for the development of documentation consists of two parts. The first one concerns episodes 1 and 2 - from Kołbaskowo to Police. The second part concerns episode 3 - from Police to Goleniów (including the tunnel). Contractors will submit separate price offers for each part. The criteria for the procedure will be the price (60%) and the experience of the project team (40%). The construction design for the first part is scheduled for 13 months, and for the second part (the tunnel section) - 15 months. The deadline for submitting offers is set for January 20, 2022.

The investment with the longest tunnel in Poland

The Western Bypass of Szczecin (ZOS) will be approximately 50 km long. It will bypass the Szczecin agglomeration from the west and north. The road will pass under the Oder through a tunnel at the level of Police. The vicinity of the industrial installations of Zakłady Chemiczne in Police made it necessary to extend the tunnel from 3.5 to 5 km. It will be the longest facility of this type in Poland. The new route will be an alternative to the current S3 / A6 route bypassing Szczecin from the south and east and together with it will form a ring around the city. The road will significantly improve the connection of the entire Szczecin agglomeration with the network of expressways and highways in the province. West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It will be of particular importance for Police located north of Szczecin. Currently, to travel from Police to the S3 / S6 Goleniów Północ junction, you need to travel 58 km, including the very center of Szczecin. After the construction of the bypass, this route will be shortened to 23 km, and the travel time will be several times longer. A significant part of car traffic will be evacuated from the center of Szczecin, including vehicles going to the chemical plant in Police.

Preparatory work carried out so far

We already have an environmental decision for this investment since 2017. Conceptual documentation was also developed along with substrate testing. These works were possible thanks to the financing granted by the Minister of Infrastructure in the amount of PLN 24.5 million. As part of this work, drillings with a total length of 45 km were performed. On the length of 18 km, static and dynamic soundings were performed, and electrofusion tomography tests were also carried out. This wide range of geological surveys gave an image of the structure of the subsoil along the entire route, including the tunnel under the Oder River, where the drilling reached a depth of 90 meters. This documentation was approved in June this year. The investment is included in the project of the Government Program for the Construction of National Roads until 2030. Previously, it was planned to be implemented in the Public-Private Partnership formula.

text photo information from Polish government site in GDDKiA section.