Minister Žák: The D47 is missing a layer, parts of the highway are at risk of being demolished

Prague - There is a lack of stone chippings directly beneath the asphalt surface of the D47 highway, which is supposed to stabilize the structure. According to experts, a part of the already operational highway will likely need to be demolished. This was stated today by Transport Minister Zdeněk Žák, referring to the results of measurements from control probes. Due to a number of defects on the D47 and bridge structures, the state has been in dispute with the company Eurovia CS since the highway was opened in 2008. According to the construction company, this could be part of an election campaign. They do not have the results of the inspection available and are therefore demanding evidence for the minister's claims.
     "We called in experts that I know, and they all agree that there is only one solution. The highway must be demolished and rebuilt," Žák told ČTK, who is running for the Zemanovci party in the upcoming parliamentary elections. He stated that it is currently uncertain how large a portion of the highway would be affected by potential demolition.
    According to the Deputy Governor of Moravian-Silesian Region for Transport Daniel Havlík, closing the highway would mean a disaster for Ostrava.
    The ministry had planned to carry out approximately a hundred probes. Results are available from dozens of them, and the missing material in the structural layer is confirmed by all, the minister stated. Although the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD) has already conducted several control probes in the problematic section, none have yet examined the substrate directly beneath the roadway; they inspected the material of the highway body from the side through bored probes.
    "If these boreholes really indicate inconsistencies in the substrate of the construction, then it is necessary to investigate and prove whether this is the cause or, conversely, the consequence of the undulating highway. The material is cold rollover, which the ŘSD specified in the tender documentation, and its swelling is precisely leading to shifts in the substrate of the construction and its individual layers," the construction company Eurovia CS stated in response. The company is also concerned about a repetition of politically motivated attacks that, according to them, accompanied the dispute between the state and the contractor under former Transport Minister Vít Bárta (VV).
    The missing part of the highway could significantly impact the quality and lifespan of the construction and also the safety of operations, stated Petr Moos, the vice-rector of Prague's ČVUT and a transport expert.
    The Deputy Governor of Moravian-Silesian Region Havlík told ČTK that he has not yet received information about the highway, but if it were true, it would mean a disaster for Ostrava. "In the current situation with the increase in public transport and the overall increase in traffic, I cannot imagine this situation because it would indeed mean a calamitous state for Ostrava," Havlík said. He reminded that the construction of road I/11 towards Opava is not yet completed, Ostrava has no bypass, and the highway is a key construction for the city. "It would mean a disaster for Ostrava," the deputy stated.
    New findings, according to the ministry, will fundamentally change the state's tactics in negotiations with the highway contractor. It was constructed by ODS-Dopravní stavby Ostrava, which was later taken over by Eurovia.
    The Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD) is currently engaging in several arbitration disputes with Eurovia. The first of the disputes was won by the ŘSD at the beginning of October.