The General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways has completed the main phase of construction on a major project: the tallest flyover in Poland. The structure is being built as part of the S19 expressway, which forms part of the international Via Carpatia route linking Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Ultimately, Via Carpatia is intended to link the ports of the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea. In Poland, it runs through five provinces over a distance of approximately 700 kilometres. The pillars of the ES-26 flyover are over 80 metres high, towering above, for example, the towers of St Mary’s Basilica in Kraków.
The tallest flyover in Poland
The most challenging section of the route is between Babica and Jawornik in the Podkarpacie region. The 11.6-kilometre stretch comprises dozens of structures, around 30 per cent of which are on viaducts. Differences in elevation meant that in some places the road had to be raised several dozen metres above ground level. The earthworks and construction involved moving around 3.5 million cubic metres of earth, using over 200,000 cubic metres of concrete and nearly 19,000 tonnes of steel. At its peak, around 700 people and over 300 machines were working on the site, resembling the organisation of a large logistics centre.
The structure of the ES-26 flyover
The ES-26 flyover between Żarnowa and Godowa is 1,082 metres long and approximately 29 metres wide. However, the key feature here are the pillars, over 80 metres high, which drivers will pass at a height usually reserved for mountain bridges. The foundations were constructed on piles with a diameter of 1.5 metres and a length of up to 42.5 metres, among the deepest in the country. Each pile underwent load-bearing tests with a load of up to 29,600 kN, and they were erected using tower cranes and special technical routes.
The highest flyover in Poland as part of Via Carpatia
Five viaducts are being built alongside the flyover to ensure the continuity of local traffic and connect the new route to the existing road network. Via Carpatia serves as a strategic transport corridor, reducing journey times between the Baltic Sea ports and the regions of southern Europe. The Babica–Jawornik section, although not yet completed, is already one of the most spectacular stretches of the road network in the whole of Poland.
Via Carpatia – when will construction be completed?
The initiative to build Via Carpatia was launched in 2006. In Poland, more intensive work on individual sections of the S19 and S61 expressways began between 2018 and 2020. The project is being implemented in stages, and its schedule varies depending on the country and section. In Poland, most of the S19, which forms the backbone of Via Carpatia, is due to be completed by the end of this year, although some sections have already been opened. The entire international route was planned to be completed around 2025–2026, but these dates remain approximate and depend on the progress of works in all countries.
Source: General Directorate for National Roads andMotorways
See also:Architecture in Poland | Interesting facts | Urban planning|Public transport
