The Lithuanian Road Administration has finished the largest critical national defence infrastructure project for military mobility to date: nearly 6 km of Pabradė–Meškerinė road next to the largest military training area in the country has been upgraded. The successful completion of the project provides a durable road infrastructure beside the Pabradė Training Area, a territory constantly used for Lithuanian Armed Forces and NATO Allied exercises and accessed by military vehicles.
Development of infrastructure vital for national defence is one of the priorities of the Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Transport and Communication and the Road Administration. Reconstruction of the Pabradė–Meškerinė road segment is the largest military mobility and infrastructure project implemented this year.
“Lithuania significantly concentrates on military mobility, dual-use roads are built. Its significance comes from the need to ensure as smooth and quick deployment of Allied forces to the region as possible. It is one of the key elements in Lithuania’s deterrence policy. As the numbers of Allied troops deployed in Lithuania and exercise held have grown in the recent years, the importance of roads for passage is becoming critical, especially when it comes to the heavy military equipment. I am grateful to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication and the Road Administration for the smooth implementation of this project through collaboration with the Lithuanian Armed Forces,” says Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas.
“Reconstruction of the Pabradė-Meškerinė road segment is one of the successful and smoothly implemented military mobility projects that also serve the civilian needs across Lithuania. I visited this place in the first semester of this year on the way to Švenčionys region and this road was a bumpy gravel road where we now have the upgraded concrete road. I thank the agencies for the cooperation, the Government – for additional financing for military mobility projects, and for a speedy implementation – to the designers and contractors,” says Minister of Communication Marius Skuodis.
The project is unique because it is the first project carried out by the Lithuanian Road Administration that has a roller-compacted concrete cover construction. The decision was made to respond to the calculations concerning the workload the road will take because of the predicted military vehicle traffic. Concrete has a high bearing capacity and will support the daily traffic of military transport. Such payment construction is suitable for military transport and has been already built in other areas of military use, internal communication roads in ranges.
The reconstructed road segment lies next to a military training area but it is also a very important element of the road network connecting military objects within the range. The segment is paved in concrete and has ramps to the training area and Pažeimenė railroad crossing. The upgraded road segment will significantly improve road communication between Camp Herkus and Camp Taurus for Allied forces in Pabradė as well.
The Lithuanian Road Administration has implemented the project within the shortest time in its road reconstruction record. From design to the end of constructions, the projects has taken 6 months, while the physical work was done in only 4 months.
The road segment near the Pabradė Training Area was built with more than 23 thousand tons of concrete to cover the total of 48.5 thousand square meters of area. Made in an ad hoc roller-compacted concrete mill nearby, it was laid in just 19 days. It has 1.2 thousand of inbuilt anti-deformation joints to prevent cracking and 1.6 km of barrier fences ensure road safety.
Pabradė–Meškerinė road is important not only for military mobility, i.e. transportation of personnel and equipment, it is also used for civilian traffic and the refurbishment has a positive effect on the environment and residents as it cuts dust pollution in nearby territories, sound pollution, and improves traffic safety, as well as communication between Meškerinė village and Pabradė Town.
The EUR 9.7 million (VAT included) project was implemented by HISK AB.
The Lithuanian Road Administration contributes to infrastructure projects important to national security. Other drafted and implemented infrastructure projects concern accessibility of the Pabradė, Rūdninkai, Rukla Training Areas by national roads.
Photo credit: Alfredas Pliadis
