Greek Motorway: A Mountain Full of Faults and Limestone
While Olympia Odos is the largest single concessionaire project of the five, Greece’s Gek Terna and Spain’s ACS and Ferrovial are the key players in two of the others—Nea Odos and Kentriki Odos, totalling over $2 billion. Nea Odos is wrapping up work on a new Ionia Odos motorway that runs 196 km from the Antirio area to Ioannina in western Greece. Nea Odos has also operated 180 km of existing motorway since 2008, says Stellos Pentheroudakis, CEO for both concessionaire groups. The project, nearly complete and opened in sections, will cut travel time from Antirio to Ioannina by 2 hours from the current 3.5.
The new alignment, with 24 bridges as long as 540 m and four tunnels, cuts through rugged Ioanninan terrain with major geotechnical difficulties. Klokova tunnel, the highlight of the work, creates a link between the Rio-Antirion bridge with western Greece. Mandated by the state to be built in 30 months, the tunnel finished in 25 months, despite what initially seemed to be intractable conditions.