Kosovo opens highway connection to Albania

An official opening has been carried out in Kosovo of the new highway connecting the country with neighbouring Albania.  The highway was constructed by a joint venture comprising Bechtel and Enka. The route was completed a whole year ahead of schedule. The highway features 15 bridges along its 77.4km length, running from Morina on the border with Albania to Trude, just to the north of Kosovo’s capital, Pristina. Bechtel-Enka had a close working partnership with the Kosovo Government for the project and this was a factor in the work being completed ahead of schedule. The four lane highway replaces a narrow two lane route that twists through the mountains and can be treacherous, particularly in winter conditions. The new highway will reduce both transport costs and journey times between Kosovo and Albania, which have strong joint cultural and historical links. As well as boosting trade the new highway will improve road safety by replacing the dangerous old route and will help boost tourism in Kosovo. Because of
its significance, Kosovar leaders, including prime minister Hashim Thaçi, president Atifete Jahjaga, and members of Parliament joined thousands of Kosovars to celebrate the opening.

Bechtel and Enka built the highway in 42 months and placed a priority on hiring locally to deliver the project. Over the course of construction, more than 10,000 Kosovars received training that provided them new skills. The project was covered in 3260 World Highways in a key project report in the January-February 2012 issue. Bechtel and Enka won two international awards for their work on the Kosovo highway. They won an ENR magazine Global Best Projects Award as well as the Program Management Award in the 713 International Road Federation’s Global Road Achievement Awards.

The project was not without its technical challenges. Winter conditions posed limitations on operations, particularly in the mountain regions. Poor sub-surface rock conditions in the mountains and a marshy flood plain required extensive treatment while the presence of aquifers required careful design and construction to avoid the risk of environmental disturbance. Quality aggregate for the project initially proved hard to source until a suitable quarry site was located close to Pristina Airport. The joint venture had to bring in specialists to deal with left-over ordnance from the recent war, as well as being very sensitive to local feelings over a number of war graves along the route.