M0 Motorway, Budapest, Hungary

In Europe the focus remains on the upgrading and completion of the network of motorways. This is particularly important in the former Eastern European countries where investment into road infrastructure was lacking for so many years. Hungary is one of the countries working hard to integrate its motorway system with the rest of Europe.

The 150km M0 motorway is a ringroad around the country's capital Budapest. The incomplete 'ring' currently connects most of the country's major motorways including the M1, M7, M6, M5 and Highway 4; a further section is being completed between motorway M3 and the future Megyeri Bridge, currently known as Highway 2/B and 2/A. This section between Highway 4 and M3 (eastern section) and the Megyeri Bridge over the Danube is currently under construction (completion early 2008).

The 39.2km eastern section is being constructed with a concrete paved surface for a HUF43bn contract price, 85% financed by the EU Cohesion Funds and the remaining 15% by the Hungarian state. Construction of the ringroad is to be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), EU COHESION funds and PHARE loans.

CONTROVERSY

The southern section of the ringroad is substantially complete but the northern section has raised concerns over its environmental impact (referring to the EIA Directive of the European Union) and there have been protests over its construction being based on an invalid environmental impact assessment. According to independent experts it is not necessary to construct the northern part of the M0 as its effect on traffic pattern changes will not be substantial.

The southern section of the M0 has already stimulated the development of over 50,000m² of new car-dependent shopping centres, with a further 80,000m² planned. This has created a much more serious traffic problem than the ringroad was supposed to solve. For these reasons, the economic importance of the northern and western sections of the M0 is marginal. The primary beneficiary of the completion of the northern section will be land speculators in the north of Budapest.

M1 TO M5 SECTION

The 29km section between the M1 and M5 motorways is the oldest section of the M0, and currently does not comply with formal European motorway specifications. Maximum speeds on the section are 80km/h. An interchange with the new M6 motorway is under construction and is due to open in the second half of 2008.

The section between Highway 51 and M5 is to be renamed as the M0a when a newly constructed and more southern section between both roads will connect the old section to the new M5–M4 section of the M0. Completion of this is currently scheduled for 2010.

In the same year the complete old section is to be upgraded to a six-lane motorway. The intersection with M6 that is due for 2008 will already be six lanes wide upon completion. The 12km-long section between M5 and the future M4 was completed in 2005. Maximum speeds on this section are 110km/h. The 23km-long section between the future M4 and M3 is under construction and due to be completed in the second half of 2008.

M3-MEGYERI BRIDGE SECTION

The Megyeri Bridge, previously known as the Northern M0 Danube Bridge, is a new cable-stayed road bridge currently under construction that will span the River Danube between Buda and Pest, respectively the west and east sides of Budapest. As a continuation of the M0 motorway, it will be the last section to complete the M0 ringroad around Budapest. The bridge will be 4km long and will cost HUF61.9bn (approximately $300m).

The 7km-long section between M3 and the Megyeri Bridge is currently known as Highway 2/B and Highway 2/A. Both 2/B and 2/A are four lane highways, but Highway 2/A does not feature a central reserve between the lanes. Maximum speed on Highway 2/A is 80kph. The Megyeri Bridge, to be opened in August 2008, will connect M0 to Highway 11 upon completion.

MEGYERI BRIDGE

The 1,862m-long bridge is divided into five sections on a total of 28 supports. The central element is the 590m-long cable-stayed bridge over the River Danube with spans of 145m, 300m, 145m respectively. For the construction of two abutments, four joint supports, seven floodplain piers and the two A-shaped pylons in the bed of the river, PERI formwork and scaffolding is being used by the consortium of contractors, Hídépítö Zrt und Strabag Zrt.

The superstructure of the cable-stayed bridge consists of a steel slab with hollow box girders under the suspension points. A total of 88 inclined cables are in two cable planes – with 4×11 cables in each plane transferring the loads from the roadway into the two centrally positioned pylons which serve as main support members.

The construction of the A-shaped reinforced concrete pylons with pre-stressed hollow beam cross-sections used PERI ACS self-climbing technology in connection with PERI VARIO girder wall formwork.

The overall height of the pylons is 100m, which includes a total of 29 casting segments with variable concreting heights between 2.55m and 4.07m. The pylon supporting members are inclined towards to the centre of the roadway at an angle of under 13.3° and have a range of different cross-sections. With external dimensions of 5.00m × 4.11m on the bottom plate, the members taper up to 3.50m × 4.11m in the area of the cable stay connections.

For the forward and reverse-inclined external walls, PERI ACS V is being used as climbing scaffold. A connecting bridge is suspended from and is climbed together with the ACS scaffold, and provides construction site personnel with the possibility of easily moving from one pylon member to the other. Tailored VARIO girder wall formwork has been designed for a concrete pressure of 50kN/m² and was accurately planned in advance by PERI engineers for each concreting section.

CONTRACTORS

The operation, maintenance and management of the M0 will be carried out by the National Motorway Management Ltd and the State Motorway Management Co Ltd (áAKCo Ltd).

Companies involved in the construction of the M0 include MAV, AKA, Hungarian National Development Agency (NFU), EGÜT Egri Ütépítő Részvénytársaság (construction of M4–M3 section), PVT M0 consortium Porr Technobau und Umwelt AG Hungarian Branch Office – Viadom Construction Closed Corporation – Teerag-Asdag AG, JacobsGIBB Ltd (consulting), National Motorway Corporation, Pilis Park Forest Co (environment mitigation), UTIBER Public Roads Investment LLC (engineer), Unitef '83 Engineering and Development Co (architect) and MAGYARSADE.

Contractors for the Megyeri Bridge include M0 North Danube-Bridge Consortium, Hídépítő Zrt, STRABAG Zrt, PERI GmbH Germany and PERI Kft Hungary.

REMAINING SECTIONS

The 11km section between Highway 10 and Highway 11 is planned and is scheduled for completion in 2014. The 18km remaining section between Highway 10 and the oldest part of the M0 beginning at the M1 interchange is planned for the future. No construction schedule is known so far, and it is not expected to be constructed in the near future due to environmental concerns.

ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS ON HUNGARIAN MOTORWAYS

The State Motorway Management Company Ltd (SMMC) invested around HUF500m in 2007 to modernise the electronic infrastructure of the Hungarian motorways network. The money was used to install new matrix boards, traffic counting devices and surveillance cameras on the country's motorways.

In spring, SMMC spent around HUF500,000 on the modernisation of its electronic systems. The investment, which was primarily financed by budgetary resources, was also funded by the CONNECT project, an EU regional programme that provided about 10% of the money.

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