The National Highway Bureau of North Macedonia announced that the Miladinovci-Stip (MS) Expressway, which was built by POWERCHINA's subsidiary Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 7 Co, officially opened to the public for two-way traffic on June 5.
The original 1.5-hour drive from the city of Stip to the capital Skopje will be shortened to 30 minutes.
The 47.1 km MS Expressway, which is part of the Pan-European Transport Corridor 8, is designed as a two-way, four-lane asphalt concrete highway with a speed limit of 100 km/h.
The construction of the expressway project started on May 2, 2014, which included 45 km of roadbed, 7 interchangeable overpasses, 39 bridges, 115 pipe culverts, and 25 box culverts.
Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 7 Co dispatched more than 50 technical and management personnel to work closely with the two major subcontractors in North Macedonia, which created nearly 1,000 jobs for the local community, as well as promoted the development of related industries such as building materials and construction.
During the construction process, the project department successfully overcame various problems, including impacts from the worst weather that has not been encountered for 50 years in North Macedonia, the collapse of a bridge expansion foundation, and the use of backward caisson foundation for a water bridge. It has been well received by the project owners, supervisors, and local residents.
The MS Expressway is an important project of the Belt and Road Initiative in the Balkan region. It is the first large-scale infrastructure project under the framework of the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.
The smooth opening of the expressway signifies that the $10 billion special credit line for China-CEE cooperation has yielded fruitful results. It is expected to play a positive role in deepening the friendly cooperation between China and North Macedonia.
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An aerial view of the MS Expressway in North Macedonia. [Photo/POWERCHINA] |
