The Kőröshegy Viaduct will be reopened to traffic in full width on Wednesday afternoon, five days earlier than planned, the Hungarian Concession Infrastructure Development Plc (MKIF Zrt) announced.

They reported that around thirty experts, a 160-tonne mobile crane with a lifting height of 76 metres, and a hydraulic lifting system capable of raising approximately 10,000 tonnes worked to safely and quickly remove the nearly 10-tonne structural elements that had worn out over the past 17 years and to replace them with new ones.

‘This was the first replacement of bearings on the 1,872-metre-long viaduct, which was built in 2007. This was planned maintenance, and the viaduct remains in good, safe condition,’ MKIF Zrt highlighted. The new bearings are custom-made and were manufactured in Germany, they added.

During the closure, all interventions requiring traffic restrictions were also completed, according to the statement.

Corrosion protection was applied to the expansion joints across the full cross-section of the viaduct, asphalt was laid where necessary, and the verge was restored, accelerating the levelling work on the M7 motorway. The guardrails and glare screens were also repaired.

They recalled that annual viaduct inspections, bi-annual bridge checks, and the results of spring test lifts revealed that out of the 38 bearings on the Kőröshegy Viaduct (each supporting 4,500 tonnes when in place), three had become significantly worn and needed to be replaced.

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