CEMEX is supplying a specially-developed concrete for the construction of the major Las Glòries Tunnel road infrastructure project in Barcelona.
The high-resistance HF-4.5/B/20 concrete will help support traffic of more than 90,000 vehicles per day, and features a mixture of limestone and silica aggregate to increase the wear resistance of the wearing course.
Due to the high level of traffic the constructor demanded concrete that would reduce wear and tear on the infrastructure, extend its useful life, and achieve significant economic savings in both execution and maintenance.
In total CEMEX will supply 6,000m3 of the concrete, which is manufactured at the CEMEX plant in Sagrera around 3km from the project site.
The tunnel itself is almost 1,000m long and reaches a total length of 1,770m between ramps and accesses. The work consists of two independent tubes that run at a depth ranging from 10 to 25 meters below the surface. The infrastructure is being built below four existing transport corridors: L1 Metro, R1 line from Maçanet-Massanes, R3/R4 (Manresa and Puigcerdà lines) and the Francia-Sants station line.
So far, the first 525m-long phase of the project has been completed, with the second phase to be built in April-May. The tunnel is scheduled for opening to the public in the fourth quarter of 2021. The section for road traffic travelling out of the city towards Besós is due to open at the beginning of September, with the section heading into the city opening at the end of November.
