The construction of the sub-section between km 366 + 000 and km 366 + 720 before Zheleznisa tunnel (Struma Motorway) is progressing. The project, which is co-financed by the Cohesion Fund of the European Union and the national budget under “Transport and Transport Infrastructure” 2014-2020 Operational Program, includes the construction of a 540-meter-long bridge facility and a tunnel service road at the northern portal of Zheleznitsa tunnel. The total length of the section is 720 m.

The bridge will cross Struma River, the E79 road, the existing and future section of Sofia-Kulata railway line, the Blagoevgrad-Simitli road and the service road of the facility. The facility is being built using an innovative for Bulgaria technology in this type of construction – incremental launching. Specific for this method is that a working platform with mobile elements with a hydraulic system is being used and each element is mounted to the already completed one. During the construction of the bridge facility, the traffic on E79 Sofia – Kulata road will not be interrupted.

So far, about 25% of the planned construction activities have been completed.

The design and construction of the section is assigned to DZZD Zheleznitsa – Sever with participants: GBS Infrastructure Construction AD, Glavbolgarstroy AD and Glavbolgarstroy International EAD. The value of the contract is BGN 29,985,345 without VAT. The construction supervision is assigned to DZZD TES Consult, which includes: STROL 1000 AD, TRI-ES EOOD and EXPERT DESIGNS OOD. Their contract is for BGN 599,783 without VAT.

Struma Motorway is part of the Orient / Eastern Mediterranean Corridor, connecting Vidin with Kulata, and is used for road traffic to Greece. The route is used as the shortest route between Western, Central Europe and the White Sea, and also as a connection between Europe and Asia.