OREANDA-NEWS. July 30, 2012. The teams of SK MOST Group of Companies are conducting tunneling operations in the Roksky Tunnel at the 93rd kilometer of "Kavkaz motorway. The builders have tunneled 462 meters of the cap (upper) part of the tunnel in two months. The operation is part of Phase III of tunnel reconstruction.

Construction work is conducted using the mining method with four faces using AM-105 Mining Machines, with temporary shoring. Portal walls are erected at the tunnel entries; advanced shoring of the tunnel roof is conducted using pipes.

Phase III of the reconstruction, which began in May 2012, includes the re-driving of the main tunnel and permanent lining of the gallery. The builders will enlarge the motorway tunnel cross-section, conduct waterproofing and erect the permanent lining, put in place the roadway, upgrade the air ventilation chambers, and install all utility systems.

During reconstruction of the Roksky Tunnel, a gallery of the tunnel that was upgraded by SK MOST Group of Companies during the period from December 2010 to May 2012 is used for traffic to/from the Southern Osetia. The gallery is operated using the reversible lanes: one hour for traffic to the Southern Osetia, then the switching over for the next hour for traffic to the Northern Osetia.

The Roksky Tunnel is upgraded by the "BTS-Gidrostroy" LLC. The construction project uses AM-105 Mining Machines, Boomer Drilling Rigs, Boltec and Robolt Bolting Rigs, Shraymec Concrete Sprayer Truck, and MoAz Trucks.

Reconstruction of the Roksky Tunnel and gallery reconstruction are scheduled for completion in the 4th Quarter of 2015.