D3 - Bridge Concreting Over Hodějovický Stream

13^th March 2023

Total of 23 Bridge Structures

The České Budějovice bypass is one of the most observed and the most anticipated motorway constructions in the Czech Republic. Rightly so - the two new, simultaneously built sections of the D3 motorway will significantly relieve the chronically congested South Bohemian metropolis. At the same time, they are quite technically demanding units, with a total of 319 objects to construct on just under 20 kilometres of the motorway, including 23 bridge structures on the motorway itself. One of them is a bridge over the Hodějovický Stream and a private road.

The eighty-metre-long bridge was built in the Úsilné - Hodějovice section, which has been under construction since 2019 and whose contractor is an association of companies Hochtief CZ, Colas CZ, a.s. and M-Silnice. The structure is located roughly midway between two new roundabouts - Pohůrka and Hodějovice. The bridge crosses the small stream Hodějovice, which is a right-side tributary of the Malše River, as well as a dedicated road leading to the tailings dump. The bridge structure has been under construction since 2021, and last summer it was concreted by Colas CZ, a.s. The work was carried out in two phases; the left part of the bridge was concreted in mid-June 2022 and the second part was done in September.

The left half of the bridge structure, from which our footage is taken, consumed 102 tonnes of concrete reinforcement, 27 tonnes of pre-stressing reinforcement and 811 m³ of concrete. The concrete pouring took place in a single day and required utmost precise coordination of construction machines, supplies and on-site work. The construction of the Hodějovický Stream Bridge on D3 will continue this year when the bridge components and needed equipment will be completed. "The position of the bridge deck is not yet final, it is placed on temporary supports for the time being, and it will be launched after the completion of the transition areas and the evaluation of the settlement of the supports on the consolidation embankments," Jakub Vodňanský, the Chief Construction Manager of COLAS CZ, a.s., explained. He had also carried out a unique repair of the Žďákovský Bridge.

The motorway bypass of České Budějovice, which also includes a bridge over the Hodějovický Stream, should be opened next year. It will include both sections being built in parallel, i.e. Úsilné - Hodějovice and Hodějovice - Třebonín. The construction of another connected section, Třebonín - Kaplice, started a year ago. According to the client, ŘSD (Road & Motorway Directorate), the construction of the section from Kaplice to Nažidla should also start the next autumn, with the remaining 3.5 kilometres to the border yet to be finished. The completion of the entire D3 in the area of the South Bohemia Region is expected to be completed in 2026 at the earliest.