Pedro Blanco highlights in Ourense the impulse in the modernization of the infrastructures in the city, with more than 40 M€ invested in the works of the Northern Variant

The government delegate in Galicia, Pedro Blanco, highlighted this morning in Eirasvedras (Ourense) the impulse of the modernization of the infrastructures in the city, with more than 40 million euros invested in the works of the Northern Variant. Pedro Blanco checked the progress in these works, in Eirasvedras, together with the mayor of Ourense, Gonzalo Pérez Jácome, and the subdelegate of the Government in the province, Eladio Santos.

“With actions like this it is clear that the Government continues to move forward to make Ourense the great transport pole in Galicia, improving its roads and accesses and establishing it as a reference point of the high Galician railway speed,” said Pedro Blanco, who stressed that this Government “has a word and fulfills the commitments made.”

Pedro Blanco stressed the improvement of security provided by these works, replacing the old national roads, and the advance in a historical demand “that transforms and improves Ourense attending to the needs of the neighborhood”. It is a link that will improve access to the city and connections with the rest of the province, as well as with Lugo and with the North of Galicia.

So far, the most relevant works carried out consisted in the improvement of the land under the two main terraces of the trace, intervention necessary due to the low bearing capacity of the existing soils. This improvement in depth is achieved by excavating the first 3.5 – 4.5 meters of the ground, and then compacting the lower layers, using a 17 ton sledgehammer that is dropped from a height of up to 14 meters.

To prevent the movement of the railway track parallel to the trace, a screen of 10 meters in depth was executed. Likewise, electricity, telephone, and supply and sanitation networks, affected by the construction of the work, were replaced.

The route of this first 1.7 km long stretch of the Norte de Ourense variant has its origin in the environment of the current link of Eirasvedras of the Autovía de las Rías Baixas (A-52), where there are currently two separate roads of two lanes per direction on the N-120, framing in a periurban environment. The two roads of the Norte de Ourense variant are projected connecting with the existing ones, giving continuity to the traffic of the N-120 in both directions.

The stretch ends at the Quintela link, where it connects again with the N-120 at the height of the Tarascon core. At this point, a provisional connection was planned that will allow this first stretch to be completed and put into service, regardless of the second stretch of the Norte de Ourense variant between Quintela and La Caja.