One of the most significant construction projects of the decade handed over the Danube

On 6 June, in the Foktő area, the Kalocsa-Paks Danube Bridge, named after Pál Tomori, the archbishop who led the Hungarian army in the Battle of Mohács, was handed over. named after Pál Tomori, the archbishop who led the Hungarian army in the Battle of Mohács, as well as the 512 road built between the M6 motorway and Kalocsa to handle traffic from the bridge. The construction plans for the bridge were commissioned by Duna Aszfalt and designed by CÉH Zrt. and Pont-TERV Zrt., while the road plans were designed by UTIBER Kft. and the road plans were prepared by SPECIÁLTERV Kft. on behalf of UTIBER Kft..

The development will create a significantly shorter road link than before between the two sub-regions bordered by the Danube. The journey time between Kalocsa and Paks will be reduced from 40-50 minutes to approximately 15 minutes, and the journey time from Kalocsa to the M6 motorway will be approximately 40 minutes.

Another part of the project was the construction of a new transport corridor connecting Gerjent and Paks, running perpendicular to the aforementioned Route 512 as a dual carriageway public road more than 10 kilometres long (marked as Route 5124 on the map above). which was handed over last May.

These were the main events of the project

The Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium investment project, which was completed on Thursday, involved the construction of a 946.2-metre-long structure with 10 supports, the construction of which began in June 2021 June 2021. Our newspaper has been following the project closely, reporting on the the first crust element was placed in the riverbed in October 2021, and then when a year later, the free assembly of the bridge began. We also wrote a separate article to show how the PERI custom-designed formwork carriages were used in the construction of the prestressed-suspended river bridge using the free assembly method.

Another milestone was reached in April 2023, when the building reached its highest point, and then in January this year we were able to report that the track slab was completed. This was followed in March by traditional barrel rolling took place, and most recently, we were able to report on the test loads in May. rel="noopener">we reported on the test loads in May.

Investments are coming south, but we need infrastructure

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stressed that the new bridge linking Kalász to Paks is part of a complex, well thought-out, long-term national development and nation-building plan.

The Prime Minister underlined:

The government's declared intention is to attract as many investments and industrial enterprises as possible south of the Zalaegerszeg-Székesfehérvár-Kecskemét-Debrecen axis, i.e. to create economic power, and for this we need roads and bridges.

The logistics link with Serbia is as important as the giant Paks nuclear power plant project

An important step in the process will be the transfer of traffic from Serbia and, in its wake, logistics centres, investments and a significant part of production units to this region, in order to link the area around Paks and Kalocsa to a rapidly developing region, he said.

Orbán also pointed out that two of the country's most important strategic investments will be built in this region: the new nuclear power plant will be built in Paks, and the Budapest-Belgrade railway line will be built not far from Kalázet, which is one of the most important building blocks of the Hungarian nation-building programme.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mayor Géza Filvig of Kalocsa said that the new bridge could be a great help in "revitalising the economic engines of Kalocsa and the region". He said the decision to build Paks 2 made it clear that the Kalocsa region should be involved in the project.

P Péter Szabó, Mayor of Paks stressed in his speech that the bridge is a sure guarantee of development opportunities for the people of Paks and the region. He pointed out that the development not only connects settlements and regions, but also underlines the fact that Paks has been a real bridge for four decades, as almost 50 percent of the electricity generated here powers and connects the country's factories, households and public institutions.