The Romanians from UMB have fired up the engines on the sections they are working on on the Transylvania track, and images taken over the year show impressive mobilization on a difficult section with several landslides on the route.

In fact, we are talking about the first motorway to receive funding through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) – about 42 kilometers of motorway that starts in the Nădăşelu area, where the current Transylvania Highway ends near Cluj-Napoca, and continues to Zimbor. and on to the gate of Salaj.

It is an impressive site, but it is also difficult to build on the unstable terrain of the Transylvanian hills.

Here, UMB quickly entered the field from the beginning of 2021, and work progressed steadily, despite numerous problems with landslides, which forced a rethinking of the route in some positions.

In 2022, the builder continued to work at a steady pace, and video images taken throughout the year show the scale of the effort in the field.

Peundemerg.ro forum user Christian Marius Man has combined footage taken during the two years of construction and made a mini-documentary summary of the work taking place on the Nădăşelu – Zimbor – Poarta Hall sector:

Hard work of the builder vs. negligence of the authorities: Why will not a single km on this section be ready in 2023

Despite the fact that the developer has shown that he can and wants to, heavy relief and the inability of the road authority to make a decision in time meant that this project could not be completed even partially in 2023. The Pro Infrastructure Association, which recently visited the section, says that it may not be until the second half of 2024 that we see the opening of traffic.

“In 2022, we repeatedly told you that the excellent mobilization of UMB employees gives us hope that we can complete the construction site in 2023, on one condition: CNAIR quickly approves two changes to technical solutions in areas with massive landslides. (Nădășelu, at the cemetery and near Topa Mică)”, writes the Pro Infrastructure Association.

“CNAIR was very late in accepting them. They recently did, at least on a declarative level, and the ball is in UMB’s court to complete the redesign. Then approval. Then the shooting, which is not here and there,” the organization reports.

It is also worth noting that UMB recently signed several lots of the A7 “Moldova” highway, a highway that could be built almost head-on by the Romanian developer.

“With all this (and what’s left of the past), it will have to provide about 400 kilometers of highways and expressways in the next 12 to 30 months. So Nădăşelu-Zimbor will wait for a long time and well”, – believes the Pro Infrastructure Association.

“In August 2022, CNAIR granted a time extension to February 2025 along with a new performance schedule. Depending on available forces, UMB may inaugurate the 30-kilometer A3 route in the 3rd-4th quarter of 2024, but is not interested in doing so. The fact is that 2023 is out of the question, and the developer can continue without contractual consequences until the spring of 2025,” API notes.

The first of the highways financed by PNRR

The highway from Nădăşelu to Zimbor is the first of these highways in Romania to receive funding through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

In addition to the 30 kilometers from Nădăşelu to Zimbor, UMB also contracted a 12-kilometer section from Zimbor to Poarta Sălajului, a total of 42 kilometers, which are included in the funding through the PNRR.

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A3 Nădăşelu – Zimbor:

Section: SECTION 3A AND SECTION 3B, SUBDIVISION 3A2: NADASELU – MICHAESTI AND 3B1: MICHAESTI ZIMBOR

Length: 30.06 km

Entrepreneur: UMB Forwarding Association – Technotrade – Electrical installation

Value: 1.39 billion lei (without VAT) / 9.6 million euros per km

Signed contract: September 22, 2020

term: 12 months of design + 24 months of execution (the term of the contract has been extended in the meantime)

Execution date: 4th quarter of 2024

A3 Zimbor – Sălăju Gate:

Section: SUBSECTION 3B2: ZIMBOR – GATE OF SALAI

Length: 12.24 km

Entrepreneur: Association SA&PE Construct – Spedition UMB – Tehnostrade

Value: 680.40 million lei (without VAT) / 11.5 million euros per km

Signed contract: July 1, 2020

term: 12 months of design + 24 months of execution (the term of the contract has been extended in the meantime)

Execution date: 2nd quarter of 2025