Javorova Kosa Tunnel () is one of the most significant structures on the Croatian A6 motorway route. It is long and consists of two tunnel tubes. It is located between

Vrbovsko Vrbovsko ( sr-Cyrl, Врбовско) is a town in western Croatia, situated at the far east of the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County; on its 280 square kilometers area, Vrbovsko features 60 settlements and a t ...

and

Ravna Gora Ravna Gora (Slavic meaning "flat hill") may refer to several places: Serbia * Ravna Gora (highland), a highland in Serbia known for its relation with the Chetnik movement * Ravna Gora (Ivanjica), a village near Ivanjica * Ravna Gora (Vlasotince), ...

interchanges. The tunnel is tolled within the A6 motorway closed toll collection system. There are no other toll plazas related to the use of the tunnel.

Construction

Javorova Kosa Tunnel was designed by Inženjersko projektni zavod and its construction was started by

Spie Batignolles Spie Batignolles is a French construction company based in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The company provides building and infrastructure construction in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. Company history Ernest Goüin fou ...

and Mediteran Union Tunel. The construction works contract was cancelled in 2001, with of the tunnel left to excavate. The works were resumed by

Konstruktor Konstruktor inženjering d.d. is a Croatian construction company which was founded in 1945 as "Konstruktor-Split" in Split, Yugoslavia (today's Croatia). Konstruktor was the first construction company in Dalmatia. Since 2006 Konstruktor inženje ...

and STRABAG AG in 2002 after a new contract was awarded to them. Konstruktor completed the construction by June 2003. The tunnel was excavated using the

New Austrian Tunneling method The new Austrian tunneling method (NATM), also known as the sequential excavation method (SEM) or sprayed concrete lining method (SCL), is a method of modern tunnel design and construction employing sophisticated monitoring to optimize various wa ...

. Construction of the tunnel was hindered by low air temperatures, dropping to . This was especially problematic as the concrete plant used for the works was away. Later, during execution of the secondary tunnel tube lining, the tunnel caved in due to a hydraulic failure of surrounding soil, caused by considerable inflow of meltwater. The failure affected a section of the tunnel, and of rock and soil had to be removed to remedy the situation. The incident, however, caused no delay of completion schedule.

Portal cover

Javorova Kosa Tunnel is separated from

Podvugleš Tunnel Podvugleš Tunnel () is one of 13 tunnels found on the Croatian A6 motorway route. Its tubes are and long. It is located between Vrbovsko and Ravna Gora interchanges. The tunnel is tolled within the A6 motorway closed toll collection system ...

by of motorway. In order to avoid occurrence of rapidly changing pavement conditions for traffic transiting from one of the tunnels to the other, a translucent cover was executed to protect the route between the tunnels. The cover is long by wide. It is supported by three rows of tall concrete columns. The cover is designed to permit ventilation of the tunnels and use of emergency exits.

Traffic volume

Traffic is regularly counted and reported by Autocesta Rijeka–Zagreb, operator of the A6 motorway and the tunnel, and published by

Hrvatske ceste Hrvatske ceste (lit. ''Croatian roads'') is a Croatian state-owned company pursuant to provisions of the Croatian Public Roads Act ( enacted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia. The tasks of the company are defined by the Public Roads A ...

. Substantial variations between annual (

AADT Annual average daily traffic (AADT) is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a year divided ...

) and summer (ASDT) traffic volumes are attributed to the fact that the motorway carries substantial tourist traffic to

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and

Kvarner Gulf The Kvarner Gulf (, or ; ; or ) sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal waters. The largest is ...

resorts. The traffic count is performed using analysis of toll ticket sales.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Road tunnels in Croatia Buildings and structures in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Tunnels completed in 2003 Transport in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County

Construction

Portal cover

Traffic volume

See also

References

External links