The concrete motorway to Świecko is already 10 years old

Ten years ago, in December 2011, two years from commencing the construction and half a year ahead of the schedule, the 106 km section of A2 from Nowy Tomyśl to Świecko was put at the drivers' disposal. It is the first motorway in Poland built under a public-private partnership using concrete technology.

This gigantic infrastructure project, implemented by an international consortium under public-private partnership, counts among the largest projects in Poland and in Europe. Apart from the pavement in concrete technology, the following were built:
•    84 engineering structures, including 31 bridges over the motorway,
•    19 facilities located in the motorway mainline (including operation and maintenance centers, motorway interchanges, Rest and Service Areas, etc.)
•    36 environmental protection facilities,
•    10.5 km of noise barriers.
Construction costs totaled EUR 1.3 billion, with as much as 25 percent spent on infrastructure related to environmental protection, largely exceeding standard cost for this type of project. 85 percent of the motorway to the German border crosses forest areas, including the sites protected under the Natura 2000 program.
Concrete technology used to build this motorway section meets the highest standards of road and motorway construction in the European Union countries. The company opted for cement concrete pavement because it is more durable and more effective in terms of maintenance or required upgrading. During construction about 120,000 concrete slabs measuring 4x5m were laid between Świecko and Nowy Tomyśl.

Our calculations, our experience abroad and nearly 10 years of observations show that in a long operational period the pavement based on cement concrete structure is more advantageous than the asphalt concrete structure pavement. I mean both financial considerations, the number of heavy maintenance procedures and the related closure of traffic lanes for the time of replacement or repairs. – says Marcin Szczepański, Technical Director at Autostrada Wielkopolska II S.A.

Autostrada Wielkopolska II belongs to the most important strategic motorway projects in Poland. It is part of the TENT-T network connecting our country with the German motorways’ network, and has become a key communication route between Poland and Western Europe. The early opening of the section between Świecko and Nowy Tomyśl to traffic allowed drivers to use this part of the A2 motorway free of charge for almost 6 months, and the travel time from Poznań to Berlin was shortened by as much as 2 hours