Turkish construction company Yapı Merkezi, undertaking a major railway project in Slovenia, considered the country's most strategic and significant investment, evaluated Sunday the ongoing work, detailing the scope and planned framework of the contract.
Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Yapı Merkezi Inşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş., Başar Arıoğlu assessed the "Divaca-Koper Railway Project" in an interview with Anadolu Agency (AA).
Arıoğlu explained that the project poses high difficulty in tunnel engineering, mentioning that they are progressing by opening tunnels within the karstic rock formations specific to the Alps.
Pointing out that 13 groups, mainly consisting of Europeans, participated in the tenders for the project, which consisted of three stages, Arıoğlu said Yapı Merkezi was involved in varying proportions in all three tenders.
"The first and second stages of the project cover infrastructure, while the third stage includes superstructure works," he said.
"In 2021, we succeeded in winning contracts totaling more than 600 million euros ($646,35 million). It is both happiness and pride for us to participate as a Turkish company in the largest and most important project of Slovenia, where I also serve as Honorary Consul General, contributing significantly to the country's economic development."
"With the Divaca-Koper Railway Project, which is the current most strategic and important investment of the country, we are supporting Slovenia in positioning the Koper Port as the logistics gateway of Europe by increasing its capacity, thus helping in maximizing service reliability," Arıoğlu noted.
He mentioned that within the scope of the project, whose first part's signing ceremony took place in March 2021, some 11 tunnels with a length of 37.9 kilometers (23.55 miles) were constructed using the New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), also known as "drill and blast" in construction terminology.
Additionally, he noted that the project included the construction of two viaducts, 452 meters and 647 meters long.
"Our consortium led by Yapı Merkezi successfully carries out this significant project, which involves karstic cave formations with a geological history of 600,000 years and occasionally includes crushing zones," he said.
"We aim to complete the project, already 70% underway, by the end of 2025 and put it into service by 2026," he added.
Bahadır Oral, the director of Slovenian projects at Yapı Merkezi, highlighted the company's success in the region despite the competition, stating that they focus on factors other than price to win projects while diligently carrying out the work.
Oral drew attention to their significant role as Yapı Merkezi in the tunnel construction, mentioning that this project is their company's gateway to Europe.
He stated that the biggest challenge in the project is the caves discovered during tunnel excavations, which he said they've encountered at 83 points so far.
Emphasizing the importance of creating a reinforcement system for the caves without causing damage and taking necessary precautions, Oral said, "Each cave discovery creates both interesting and beautiful sights but significantly delays the project's progress."
However, despite all these challenges, experienced engineers and experts ensure the project's progress by providing reinforcement solutions and sometimes generating new ideas, according to Oral.
He also cited the challenge in the workforce, adding that in addition to Turkish workers employed on the project, they work with Italian, Croatian and Austrian subcontractors.
Oral emphasized that since the project is carried out within the EU, there is a serious sensitivity regarding environmental issues, highlighting that efforts are made in every stage "to comply with regulations and precautions."
He said that the project, worth approximately 1 billion euros, with 400 million euros being contributed by Slovenia's capital and the participation of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and various banks, is being continuously monitored by the EU, adding that they've received very positive reactions at these stages.
