Hemus Motorway route relocated due to landslide risks

Bulgaria’s Road Infrastructure Agency has proposed a new route for Section 7 of the Hemus Motorway due to persistent landslide risks near the village of Kamen. The redesign involves shifting the path up to 2.8 kilometers north of the original corridor to bypass unstable terrain.

The proposed bypass will span 9.5 kilometers, an increase from the initially planned 7.8 kilometers. This adjustment will extend the construction length by approximately 3 kilometers and requires new environmental procedures, organizational projects, and land expropriation. The new route is expected to pass roughly 550 meters from residential buildings in Kamen without entering the village's regulated zone.

Technical warnings regarding soil stability in this sector date back to 2018, when the organization ‘Geozashchita – Pleven’ issued an opinion on the landslide processes. The project includes two new road nodes, ‘Gorski Senovets’ and ‘Kamen,’ to maintain connections with the existing road network and local agricultural lands.