English
Steel structures the size of 11-story buildings are being lowered into the ground to stabilize the soil and construct the most difficult section of the Ohrid–Kicevo highway, said Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski.
Construction activities on the highway’s most complex section near Botun are proceeding at an excellent pace, utilizing a technical solution designed to stabilize the unstable terrain. The specific terrain conditions—a combination of black graphitic soil and vast amounts of water—had previously posed a serious construction challenge, but a solution has been found through the engagement of domestic and foreign experts.
The stabilization process employs a special technique using five machines, each weighing 130 tons; these machines penetrate the ground to depths of 20 to 28 meters, after which reinforcement cages—each containing 30 tons of steel—are lowered in and filled with concrete.
A total of 250 such structural elements will be installed along the Ohrid–Kicevo highway: 163 near Botun and the remainder along other sections, including near Knezino and Kichevo, thereby resolving the highway’s most difficult segment.
This is by far the most challenging section from an engineering standpoint, and it represents an innovation not only for Macedonia but for the entire region, wrote Nikoloski.