OFFICIAL OPENING OF RUSNĖ CAUSEWAY
The causeway in Rusnė has been opened in the presence of invited guests and local community. The Opening was marked with a ribbon cutting ceremony. On May 15, the deadline of the Rusnė causeway construction contract, which had been signed between the Lithuanian Administration under the Ministry of Transport and Communications (Road Administration) and the companies Kauno tiltai and Tec Infrastructure, expired. Construction works, which took 8 months, were completed.
‘The causeway construction project has been fully completed according to the plan, thus, floods will have no impact on traffic. Cars and pedestrians will be able to use the facility, which will ensure safer and more convenient communication’, says the Director of the Road Administration Mr Vitalijus Andrejevas.
It is one of the longest engineering structures in Lithuania: 750-metre-long (with approaches) two-lane causeway elevated on 416 punched poles, 67 columns, 16 bars and 170 overhead beams. In total, the causeway has been covered in monolith reinforced concrete panel (5,250 tonnes of concrete (2,100 m3) and 208 tonnes of reinforcement), which would make an approx. 131 km long bar if stretched in one line. Almost 1 km of guard rails have been placed on the facility as well.
Besides causeway, a 5-km-long section of the road Šilutė – Rusnė is being reconstructed, with a new pavement structure and 4.5 km long pedestrian and cycle path. Subgrade reinforcement works will be performed on the same road section from 2.425 to 5.820 km, which restricts traffic on this road.
The only road leading to Rusnė is road No 206 Šilutė–Rusnė, which used to be flooded each year, and the carriage of vehicles cost 250 000 EUR per year.
The Rusnė causeway construction and road reinforcement works are financed from the funds of the Road Maintenance and Development Programme.