The project is placing a section of the A5 underground to create a pedestrianised boulevard at street level. The tunnel will conceal 80,000 vehicles that used to travel along the motorway every day.
Two separate 800m and 500m tunnel galleries have been connected in the vicinity of the Batán junction, excavated in the southern section of the project, towards Madrid Madrid’s mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, was present when the two excavators joined the sections.
The tunnel will be completed this spring. Subsequently, work will be carried out on connecting the systems to Calle 30 (ventilation, emergency exits, cameras, extractors).
The first cale (technical operation to join the galleries) of the tunnel that ends with the A5 on the surface was carried out on January 16 in the vicinity of Calle del Olivillo. At that time, two tunnels were linked, resulting in 700m (plus an additional 100m excavated since), which have now been connected, creating a 1.3km tunnel.
To date, 2.1km of tunnel have been excavated in both sections of the 3.2km in total in both directions, and 83.5% of the slab – 77,706m2 – has been completed.
FCC says the smooth progress of the works will allow the underground section to open at the end of the year.
