Sibiu-Pitești highway section 3 progress hinges on revised environmental permit

Construction on Section 3 of the Sibiu-Pitești highway, specifically the Cornetu-Tigveni stretch, has achieved a physical execution rate of 17.35%, according to Cristian Pistol, the Director General of the National Company for Road Infrastructure Administration (CNAIR).

Pistol stated on Facebook that the construction consortium, comprising Webuild SPA and Tancrad, is actively working on sections for which building permits have been issued. Approximately 1,000 workers and 512 pieces of equipment are engaged in excavations, consolidations, backfills, and structures across about 30% of the site. However, he cautioned that extending these activities to the entire construction area is dependent on securing a revised environmental permit.

The necessary documentation for this revised permit was submitted by the constructors, and CNAIR filed its application with the National Agency for Environmental and Protected Areas on August 12, 2026. Once the environmental permit procedures are finalized, the Ministry of Transport must issue the required permits for all sectors of this 37.4-kilometer lot.

Section 3 features a tunnel, 55 bridges and viaducts, and two road interchanges. Currently, work is progressing on 14 of these structures, involving activities such as reinforcement, concreting, formwork, waterproofing, and the installation of metal beams. Progress on these structures ranges from 51% to 93%. Preparatory work for the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) platform is also underway at the Poiana tunnel, which will be Romania's longest dual-tube road tunnel at 1780 meters.

The contract for Section 3, financed through the Transport Program, is valued at 5.323 billion lei (excluding VAT). This section, along with Section 2, is considered one of the most challenging mountainous segments of the Sibiu-Pitești highway project, designed to traverse the Carpathian Mountains via a complex system of tunnels and viaducts.

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La tunelul Poiana, cel mai lung tunel rutier cu galerie dublă din România (1780 m), se continuă lucrările pregătitoare pentru platforma pe care se va monta instalaţia TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine)