Replacement of the Kőröshegy viaduct completed five days ahead of schedule

The full width of the Kőröshegy viaduct will be reopened to traffic five days earlier than planned, on Wednesday afternoon, at 13:00, Magyar Koncessziós Infrastruktúra Fejlesztő Zrt. told MTI.

They said that the work involved around thirty specialists, "a 160-tonne mobile crane with a lifting height of 76 metres and 18 hydraulic lifting systems capable of lifting a total of around 10,000 tonnes per crane", to ensure that the structural elements, each weighing around 10 tonnes, which have been worn out over the past 17 years and are now being replaced, were removed as quickly and safely as possible and the new ones fitted.

"This was the first bridge replacement on the 1872-metre-long bridge, built in 2007. It was all planned in advance and the bridge is safe and in good condition," stressed MKIF Zrt..

According to the announcement, all interventions that would otherwise have caused traffic restrictions were also carried out during the closure. The corrosion protection of the dilatation elements of the bridge was carried out over the entire cross-section, asphalt was applied where necessary and the embankment was repaired, thus speeding up the levelling of the M7 motorway. They also repaired the barrier and the reflector nets. It was recalled that the annual bridge inspections and the bi-annual bridge inspections, as well as the results of the spring test lifts, showed that three of the 38 spans of the Kőröshegy valley bridge (which each hold a load of 4,500 tonnes when in place) were badly worn and needed to be replaced.