TRIESTE – All works required to overcome the karst cavities along the route of the new line between Divača and the port of Koper have been completed.
The works involved the Lokev (T1) and Beka (T2) tunnels, as well as a section of the open-air stretch between Divača and the first tunnel.
During excavation, karst voids of such a size were encountered that dedicated structures became essential. These are underground bridges with arched structures, built beneath the tunnel bore. They will not be visible once the line is in service, but they are crucial to ensuring the railway’s stability and safety.
The main interventions concerned the cavities identified as 2TDK-066 and 2TDK-080, in both the main bore and the service bore. The longest underground structure reaches 46 metres. All works were carried out inside tunnels around six kilometres long, at more than 100 metres below ground. A particularly complex operation was also carried out on cavity 2TDK-076 in the Lokev tunnel.
Along the entire second-track alignment, a further seven karst cavities were also identified inside the tunnels, requiring structural solutions spanning more than 15 metres. For crossings of up to 15 metres, solutions had already been предусмотр in the design, whereas for longer spans it was necessary to develop specific interventions that had not been planned in the initial phase.
