Major fleet

POLAND'S new A1 highway is the country's biggest road project at present and when complete, it will run 568km north to south from Gdansk to Gorzyczki, cutting the journey time from 10-6 hours. The project is a key one for Poland's economy and the highway will provide a vital new link for cross-country truck transport.

This route forms part of the Trans-European Transport route connecting Norway with Greece, and work started in October 2005 on the first 100km phase, which was completed in 2008. The second phase, worth €750 million, is now underway, comprises 62km of four-lane highway and includes 51 bridges, of which the longest crosses the Vistula River and will be some 2km long.

The project is being developed under the PPP model and Gdansk Transport Company is responsible for operation and maintenance of the first two phases of the highway, measuring 152km in all, until 2039. The construction work on this section is being carried out by the 2296 Skanska Poland-1547 NDI joint venture, which is using the largest fleet of construction equipment, worth more than €45 million, in the country to work on the A1 project. Local distributor 2394 Volvo Maszyny Budowlane Polska has supplied 66 Volvo machines including 50 A40E ADTs, four EW160C wheeled excavators, three EC360CL crawler excavators, three EC460CL crawler excavators and six EC210CL crawler excavators. A new A35EFS articulated hauler is also being tested on site. To keep the machines running, the Volvo dealer has set up a workshop at the site with six mechanics and one project manager, as well as vehicles and a parts container.