New roads to the economically important Danube port

The comprehensive infrastructure development of the Csepel Free Port is nearing completion.
In early January, the partial technical handover procedure for a significant part of the project was completed. The project will be completed in its entirety in September 2024, Kristóf Pál, the construction manager of SWIETELSKY Magyarország Kft., told our newspaper.
 

During the construction work that began in the spring of 2022, SWIETELSKY Vasúttechnika Kft. and SWIETELSKY Magyarország Kft. carried out waterfront developments, railway construction works and related public utility and road construction works in the Csepel Free Port.  

The SWIETELSKY Magyarország Kft. renovated four roads in the area of the Csepel Free Port, and solved utility construction and replacement tasks.
In April 2022, during a three-month planning period, the final design of the project was completed. In September, the construction works could start after obtaining the consent of the utility companies,
Kristóf Pál told our portal.
 

The project involved the replacement of the entire track structure:

• the Granary,
• the Petrograph,
• the Petroleum and
• Carrot Street.

   

The busiest road in the Free Port has also been renewed

Of the four streets, Répa Street, which is about 340 metres long, carries the most north-south traffic in the Freeport. Szikratávíró Street leads into the heart of the port, with a roundabout linking the two sections of the 1,700-metre road. Petróleum Street is more than two kilometres long, while Grain House is also nearly half a kilometre long. With the exception of Petróleum Street, the pavements have been reconstructed on all three road reconstructions.
The four roads also required stormwater drainage, which was achieved by the construction of 195
water drains and 40 manholes.

A total of 4,620 metres of road were resurfaced using 16,000 tonnes of asphalt.

The reconstruction was carried out in 21 phases to ensure the port's traffic.
 

"We had to organise and execute the works in a way that ensured the continued sustainability of the Freeport's operations. In practice, this meant that the road repairs were carried out in phases. We carried out the roadworks and road repairs with half-lane closures. The exception to this was the Granary Road, where the conditions on site allowed us to work across the full width in two phases. All in all, we were able to complete the reconstruction of the four streets in 21 phases," said Kristóf Pál.
 

New access system installed

The company has also carried out a number of utility works in the Freeport area, independent of road construction. At the south-east corner of Commercial Basin II, a new water and power line was constructed to serve vessels moored in the basin, and a gas pipeline replacement was carried out alongside the Grain Storage Road. In addition, around 60 solar panels and a further 150 luminaires and candelabras were installed.
 

Almost two kilometres of new optical fibre backbone network has been installed, and fibre optic cables have been installed in the completed substructure. The latter were combined with the implementation of a brand new access system, which will improve the efficiency of the port's cargo handling. In this context, hardware, uninterruptible power supplies, number plate scanning cameras and information points have also been installed.
 

The World Athletics Championships also affected the works

The construction manager also revealed that the schedule has changed dynamically throughout the project, based on the milestones set out in the contract. Accordingly, the construction started with the renovation of the two major streets, Sikratávíró and Petróleum. At the same time, utility works that do not restrict traffic were started, such as the replacement of the gas mains, the construction of the substructure of the new fibre-optic backbone and the utility works in the south-east corner of the commercial basin II. 

A total of 5.82 kilometres of water pipes and around 1.4 kilometres of sewer pipes were laid by the company's specialists.

Kristóf Pál said, "Our goal was to meet the 25-50-75 percent milestones before the deadline, so we started with the areas where we could make the most progress."
The construction manager revealed that the schedule was
also developed with the needs of tenants in the Freeport area in mind, and in addition, the timeline was influenced by the World Athletics Championships in August 2023. The construction of some project elements had to be rescheduled to coincide with the world event on the other side of the Danube.
 

Full project to be completed in September

The works have been grouped together to ensure that the very high rail and road freight traffic handled by the free port is not disrupted during the renovation of infrastructure elements that are in permanent use. In addition, they had to coordinate the works that were taking place independently of the company's project, as a number of connection points arose during the works on utilities and road renovation.

The construction manager said that scheduling was the biggest challenge in this project, but overall they have successfully completed the multi-billion forint construction, which is expected to be completed in September 2024.

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