The II stage of Vilnius Western bypass finished six months sooner

"The value of the II stage construction works of the Western bypass amounted to over LTL 211 million. Owing to these investments, the situation has radically changed on Laisvė Ave. that is crossed by over 30 thousand vehicles per 24 hour period. Currently, this flow will be redistributed, and communication will significantly improve for those travelling across Lazdynai, Pilaitė, and Karoliniškės. We are pleased that we managed to present this gift to Vilnius residents already before St. Christmas”,-told Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas. During the II stage of construction of the Western bypass, a 2.84-km long six-lane high speed street, parallel to Laisvė Avenue, was built in both directions. Since now, drivers from Kaunas to Minsk will be able to go at an 80 km/h speed in Ukmergė direction, bypassing the centre of the city, to Lazdynai, Pilaitė and Karoliniškės residential districts. “The construction of both bypasses in the capital are sophisticated projects requiring huge investments, therefore I am pleased that Vilnius city municipality incessantly continues their construction stage after stage. Today, after intensive performance of works during a span of two years, we are pleased with excellent results – a nearly 3 km-long section of the Western bypass was finished from L. Asanavičiūtė str. to Ozas str. The fact that we may go on this bypass already today is a merit of all parties that participated in the implementation thereof, i.e. Vilnius city municipality, project partners Fegda, Alvora and other subcontractors”, - told Giedrius Cvilikas, COE of Kauno Tiltai AB. Poles supporting high voltage power lines stood on a section of the Western bypass what impeded to continue the extension of the street. Thanks to understanding of the electricity transmission system operator Litgrid and decisions taken in due time, the replacement of the overhead line with an underground one did not take long. Otherwise, it would have been hardly possible to finish this project this year.As many as 3 viaducts, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge have been built in this nearly 3km-long bypass section. Over 40 m-long motor transport viaducts have been built near L. Asanavičiūtė and D. Gerbutavičius street, nearly 50m-long pedestrian and bicycle bridge  - at V. Maciulevičius str., also a two-level clover type 47m-long transport junction – at the intersection of the Western bypass with Pilaitė avenue. During the II construction stage of Vilnius Western bypass, a lot of issues had to be solved, e.g. where to remove huge amounts of excavated ground, when it would be possible to work underneath 110 kV power lines, as it was not possible to proceed without decisions. We are grateful to residents of Pilaitė residential district for patience due to problems caused by restricted traffic on Pilaitė Ave. I believe that the opened Western bypass will now considerably improve and accelerate communication with other district of Vilnius city”, told Mr. Žydrius Baublys, CEO of Fegda UAB. As many as 85 percent of the II stage of Western bypass has been designed in a cutting which depth ranges from 6 to 14 meters. When forming a bed for the future bypass, over 1 million m3 of the ground was excavated for as many as 10 months. Noise spread by intensive traffic on the street installed in a deep cutting will be absorbed by high slopes and will not disturb people residing near the bypass. Practically, the whole year 2012 was spent for engineering works – installation of the rainwater and domestic wastewater networks, reconstruction of communication, power lines, gas and heat networks. The construction of Vilnius Western bypass was commenced as far back as in 2009. If extends from Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Pilaitė residential districts towards Ukmergė road. During the first stage of construction, Lazdynai bridge in Vilnius was reconstructed, and a three-level intersection and a transport tunnel were built; also a bypass section from Oslas street to L. Asanavičiūtė str. was aligned. Currently, the II stage of construction works has already been finished. During the III stage of construction of the Western bypass, a street from Ozas str. to Šiaurinė str. and from Šiaurinė str. to Ukmergė str. will be built. On completion of construction, Vilnius Western bypass will connect the international IXB transport corridor Kiev-Minsk-Klaipėda with Vilnius-Panevėžys highway and will become an integral part of this corridor. In Vilnius, this is already a second large infrastructure project that will be finished this year sooner than it has been planned - construction of the link between Žirniai str. and Vilnius international Airport have been finished 3 months sooner. This project has also been implemented by Kauno Tiltai AB company. Facts and figures of the Western bypass:

• 2.84 km-long 6-lane road was constructed in both directions from L. Asanavičiūtė str. to Ozas str. 83,300 tons of asphalt, i.e. over 4,100 trucks, has been used for the installation of the street. Thickness of the asphalt layer -30 cm.
• 4 viaducts have been built - three of them for transport, one – for pedestrians and cyclists. The width of viaducts ranges from 46 m to 49; the width of viaducts – from 4 m to 33 m; the length of spans is 23 m.
• Over 80 percent of the Western bypass (II stage) has been installed in the cutting which depth ranges from 6 to 14 m. When forming a bed for the bypass, excavation of the ground continued for as many as 10 months. In total, over 1,000,000 m3 has been excavated. If trucks that carried the ground are put into one line, a distance of over 800 km would form (for example, from Vilnius to Kiev).
• Within 20 months, a high voltage (110kV) power line was replaced with the underground one.
• The total length of the laid down underground cables amounts to 12.37 km.
• Over 8 km of different diameter pipes were used for installing the run-off rainwater network.
• 417 lighting poles and 3,400 reflectors were installed in the road paving and curbs.
• 39, 275 m curbs and 7,100 m metal guards were installed on the bypass route.