VJF Engineering Ltd. was one of the executors of the waterproofing system during the repair works of the right tube of the Vitinya Tunnel.

Vitinya is the second longest tunnel in Bulgaria – 1195 meters and it is in exploitation since 1984.
The last refurbishment of the tunnel was more than 27 years ago.

Several factors were taken into account for the choice of the waterproofing system:

• specific tunnel construction;
• short terms for the implementation of a large amount of area;
• harsh weather conditions;

The chosen technical solution for the waterproofing system involves:

• Waterproofing of PVC geomembrane, laminated with geotextile 500 g/m2. The membrane can be applied by the fast and proven method of using a “hot air” welding device.
  

A testing channel has been left between the welding line of the waterproofing sheets which allows air testing of the seal for water tightness.

Drainage Composite MacDrain W 3060. Designed to be a reliable protection for waterproofing system over existing tunnel construction as it provides planar drainage along tunnel cross-section. Protection Geocomposite MacDrain W 3036 is made by thermobonding a three-dimensional drainage core of extruded monofilaments between two filtering non-woven geotextiles that may also work as separation and protecting layers.