Tender for new 200 mln euro road project in Central Greece

The Lamia-Karpenisi axis, the large road project for the Makrakomi-Tymfristos section, was put up for tender. This is a project which will exponentially improve the connection of Karpenisi with Lamia and the highway network of the country. The Contracting Authority is the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

The cost of the project including VAT amounts to 200 million euros (amount without VAT 161.29 million euros). The deadline for expressions of interest in the project is June 15, 2023. The projected number of candidates is up to six consortiums. Then there will be a B` phase from which the contractor of the project will finally emerge.

The duration of the works is set at 54 months from the signing of the construction contract. The financing of the project will be done from national resources and accordingly there is a possibility that it will be financed from structural programs of the European Union.

The new road axis takes Karpenissi and the surrounding areas out of a peculiar road isolation as its main purpose is to remove the difficult access to Evrytania and the western mountainous part of Fthiotida. At the same time, it improves safety conditions for visitors and residents by contributing to the reduction of traffic.

Commuting times will be reduced by approximately 30 minutes, increasing the attractiveness and accessibility of the area, while creating the conditions for boosting tourism and trade.

The object of the project

The object of the Contract includes the study and construction of the “Lamia – Karpenisi Road Axis, section Connecting the end of the Makrakomi bypass with the eastern front of the Tymfristos Tunnel”.

The total length of the project is approximately 30 km and extends entirely within the boundaries of the Regial Unit of Fthiotida, improving the level of road safety and drastically reducing the travel time of all vehicles, compared to the existing situation. The starting point of the project is the end of the eastern face of the existing Timphristos Tunnel. The end of the project is the western limit of the constructed Makrakomi bypass. The work in almost its entire length (with the exception of small sections at the ends of the project) follows a new design.

The highway has been designed as a category AII road, with a design speed of 70 km/h and a standard cross-section of b2 (total roadway width of 8m, which includes a traffic lane of 3.75m width and an outer guidance lane of 0.25m in each direction). An Additional Traffic Lane is planned in sections, especially in the uphill traffic flow. In the sections with the addition of ATL, the total width of the road is 11.5m.

The physical object of the project includes, among others, the construction of: large bridging techniques, reinforced embankments, reinforced earth walls, reinforced retaining walls for the crowning continuity of wing walls of trench bridges, trench walls, reinforced embankment bases, reinforced foot walls, level junctions, technical overpasses and underpasses as well as also a number of rectangular and tubular culverts while the arrangement of streams is also required. In addition, it includes the restoration of the operation of local networks (forestry and rural / local) along the project and access to crops and facilities around its zone.