Žaba – A Tunnel to the Sea
Tunnel Žaba, some days before opening.
With a length of 975 m, the Žaba tunnel has a very special meaning for the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It enables the only main road connection to the Mediterranean Sea without having to cross the national border and to travel through the neighboring state of Croatia. The main road N17.3 connects the towns of Stolac and Neum.
The tunnel was built by Euro-Asfalt and the operator is the public motorway company JP Autoceste FBiH. The major challenges in construction and operation have been similar to Tunnel Mali Prolog, which was completed in 2013 and is also equipped with JES devices, about 30 km away (linear distance), said engineer Mladen Tomljanovic (NABLAplus): ‘Karst rock and the meteorological conditions. Wind, fog and above all the violent thunderstorms demand greatest safety and resilience from the electrical equipment installed there.’
Construction began in October 2018 and was completed in early autumn 2020. Due to a lightning strike shortly before the planned opening, it had to be postponed to March 2021. Equipped with JES technology for visibility and air flow measurement, safe operation is now guaranteed there.
JES technical equipment:
- t/FL-US Air flow monitoring system – ultrasonic cross-sectin
- t/VIS-SL-CO Visibility monitor and CO detection
- w/MOR Visibility measurment and fog detection
In the Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Serbia region, the project is another part of a series of ongoing and upcoming tunnel projects with JES participation and the Croatian partner NABLAplus.
JES is looking forward to it.
