A3 motorway

A3
Route information
Maintained by Compania Naţională de Autostrăzi şi Drumuri Naţionale din România
Length:	52 km (32 mi) Planned: 588 kilometres (365 mi)
Major junctions
From:	Bucharest
To:	Borş (Hungarian border)
Location
Counties:	Ilfov, Prahova, Braşov, Sibiu, Mureş, Cluj, Sălaj, Bihor
Major cities:	Bucharest, Ploieşti, Braşov, Făgăraş, Sighişoara, Târgu Mureş, Cluj-Napoca, Zalău, Oradea
Highway system
Motorways in Romania

A3 between Gilău and Turda

The A3 motorway (Autostrada A3 in Romanian) is a motorway currently being constructed in Romania. It will be a four-lane, 588-kilometer motorway, stretching northwest from Bucharest to Oradea. The motorway will connect the cities of Bucharest, Ploieşti, Braşov, Făgăraş, Sighişoara, Târgu Mureş, Cluj-Napoca, Zalău and Oradea. The motorway will be owned by the Government of Romania. It will follow almost the same route as the DN1 road (National Road 1), which became insufficient due to the growing rate of traffic between Bucharest and Transylvania, and will connect with the Hungarian motorway network near Borş.^[1]

Bucureşti–Braşov section

The first segment, from Bucharest to Moara Vlăsiei, will be built as a six-lane set of carriageways to accommodate commuting and holiday surplus traffic. The motorway will cross the Carpathian Mountains along the Prahova Valley (the Comarnic – Braşov segment is considered the most difficult section to be built). It will also provide access to the future Terminal 2 of the Henri Coandă Airport and to the future A5 (Bucharest – Chişinău) motorway, via the Ploieşti South-East/Dumbrava interchange.

Works on the Bucharest – Ploieşti section of the A3 started on 15 March 2007 and are due to be completed by mid-2012. Works on the Comarnic – Braşov, the most difficult segment of the motorway, were due to begin in 2010 and take around 4 years to complete,^[2] but the French-Greek consortium Vinci-Aktor denounced the contract and construction was canceled.^[3] The total construction cost of the segment was estimated at 1.2 billion euros.^[4] The project shall be re-tendered and reviewed in 2012.^[5]

Technical data

• Total length: 173.3 km
• Tunnel length: 2.65 km
• Nodes: 14
• Projected speed limit: 80 – 100 – 130 km/h
• Platform width: 26.0 m
• Road width: 2 x 7.5 m
• Intersections: 12
• Bridges/viaducts: 27.65 km
• Estimated cost: 1,415 mil euros

Braşov–Oradea section

Bechtel contract controversy

This motorway segment, known as Transylvania Motorway, was originally scheduled to be built by American company Bechtel Corporation together with its regional partner Enka A.S. of Turkey. The contract was awarded in 2004 to Bechtel Corporation by the Social Democrat Prime-Minister Adrian Năstase without an open bidding process, invoking "national security" as an excuse.^[6] The estimated construction cost was 2.8 billion € in 2003, rose to 4.7 blillion € in a 2007 estimate.^[7] Although officially the deadline is set for 2013, the final cost and finalization date are currently unknown.^[8] As per Romanian ministry of transportation, Anca Boagiu, the original contract was highly disadvantageous to the Romanian side. Following the contract renegotiation^[9] that occurred in June–July 2011, Bechtel agreed to lower the building cost per kilometer by 50 % down to 6.9 million euros.^[10][11] Also it was decided that the American company will build only 2 segments of the A3 (Borş – Suplacu de Barcău and Gilău – Câmpia Turzii), leaving all the other segments of the motorway open for tendering.^[12]

Technical specifications

• Excavation: 93,000,000 m³
• Fill: 64,000,000 m³
• Ballast and crushed stone base: 12,000,000 m³
• Drainage pipes: 620,000 lm
• Asphalt: 7,000,000 m³
• Structures: 53 km
• Piling: 620,000 lm
• Reinforced and precast concrete: 3,200,000 m³

Technical data

Suplacu de Barcău Viaduct under construction in 2008

• Total length: 415 km
• Platform width: 26 m
• Road width: 2 x 7.5 m
• Bridges/viaducts: 267/over 60 km
• Overpasses: 94
• Underpasses: 58
• Interchanges: 16
• Completion deadline: 2017.

Construction progress

The official groundbreaking ceremony for the Transylvania Motorway was held near the village of Vălişoara on 16 June 2004. At present, works are being performed only on the Suplacu de Barcău – Oradea Vest (Borş) segment.^[13]

Openings timeline

• Turda – Gilău segment (42 km) opened for traffic on December 1, 2009 and it currently serves as a motorway bypass for the city of Cluj-Napoca.
• Câmpia Turzii – Turda segment (10 km) opened on November 13, 2010 and it currently serves as a motorway bypass for both these cities.
• Next openings: Bucharest – Ploieşti (42 km) on June 30, 2012^[14] and Petricani Street (Bucharest) – Bucharest Ring Road (6.5 km) on October 5, 2012.^[15]

Exits list

Exits and buildings (Northbound)
Cluj-Napoca bypass (52 km)
	(1)	Câmpia Turzii		opened 2010
	(2)	Turda / Aiud, DN1		opened 2009
	(3)	Cluj-Napoca West / Gilău, DN1		opened 2009

Gallery

• 

  A3 west of Cheile Turzii

• 

  A3 near Cheile Turzii

• 

  A3 beside Cheile Turului

• 

  A3 crossing a part of Cheile Turului

See also

• Roads in Romania
• Suplacu de Barcău Viaduct
• Transport in Romania

External links

• Autostrada Transilvania official website
• Autostrada Transilvania unofficial website
• Motorways in Romania 2007-2013 (pdf file)
• Bucureşti – Ploieşti Motorway Project Contract
• C.N.A.D.N.R.
• Bechtel se lauda cu 23 km de asfalt in cinci ani

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: A3 motorway (Romania)

v t e Main roads in Romania Motorways Autostrada Bucureşti–Piteşti (A1) · Autostrada Soarelui (A2) · Autostrada Transilvania (A3) · Autostrada Litoral (A4) · Autostrada Ploieşti–Albiţa · Autostrada Est–Vest Main national roads DN1 · DN2 · DN3 · DN4 · DN5 · DN6 · DN7 · CB Other national roads DN1B · DN67C · DN7C · DN10 · DN100 · DN21