Årbogen 2011 - Grindsted Landbrugsskole

Highway
to Heaven
By Sebastian Boboc
in association with the Romanian students from the Basic Module
30 grindSTed LandbrugSSkoLe & TronSøSkoLen
If we had to describe in just a few
words, than the Transfagarasan is just
the road that passes through Fagaras
Mountains (the highest mountains in
Romania – Moldoveanu peak – 2544 meters),
that connects Walachia and Transylvania.
Infact Transfagarasan road is
more than that. It is the road that lays
on the highest altitude in Romania, 2042
meters, reaching up to the Glacial Hollow
Balea.
it has two traffic lanes of 92 kilometers
length. because of the countless turns,
the average speed is maximum 40 km
per hour. along this route there are 27
viaducts and bridges, and the longest
road tunnel in romania – 887 meters,
that passes through Paltin Mountains,
from Capra to balea Lake. The ventilation
of the tunnel is made naturally, thanks
to the extremely powerful currents. The
traffic lane inside the unlighted tunnel
is only 6 meters wide and there is a one
meter broad pavement.
The landscape is fantastic, and the differences
of altitude and the curves represent
a challenge for both cars and
drivers. unfortunately, because of the
weather conditions, Transfagarasan road
being covered with snow nearly all year
around, it is open for traffic only a few
months every year, usually from July until
october.
How it was built
Transfagarasan was built between 1970
and 1974. a brief presentation with numbers
might be difficult to follow, but for
those who have the patience to read it is
worth saying that about 3 million tones
of hard rocks were dislocated, 830 transverse
works and 290.000 cubic meters of
masonry were made for building those
92 kilometers of road. For building the
Capra – balea Tunnel there were excavated
over 41.000 cubic meters of rocks.
There were also used 20 tones of dynamite,
3.573 tones of cement, 89 tones of
concrete steel, 24.000 of anchors, 129 tones
of brazed nets, 14.200 square meters
of encasements, 1750 meters of concrete
tubes, 4.100 meters of pipes, 50 tones of
metal composites, 6.900 cubic meters of
grit, 6.000 cubic meters of gravel, 3.000
tones of crushed rocks and 740 lighting
lamps.
Some of those who worked at the construction
of Transfagarasan, nowadays
retired, speak about the sacrifices that
were made for the road that “leads to the
sky”. before its construction, it was impossible
to cross the mountains, not even on
horseback. but it is said that once upon
a time, before becoming president, nicolae
Ceausescu stopped by the village called
arefu and the idea of building a road
that passes through the mountains had
encouraged the built of it. during the
construction a lot of men lost their lives,
like in Vidraru’s case. (Vidraru being an artificial
dam, built in 1965). unfortunately
the documents didn’t keep these numbers,
but the survivors said that there
were about a hundred human sacrifices.
Many of those who died weren’t even
found in the precipices in which they had
fallen. it is also said that when the tunnel
was built, the miners who were in charge
with the planting of the explosives were
hanging on each other, in groups of 20 or
30, not to be thrown by the strong wind
into the precipice.
A monk’s tale
There is also a story that has been sprea-
ding from mouth to mouth referring to
a monk named nectarie. after the construction
of the Transfagarasan road, he
drove along it with his car, a Trabant, right
up to Capra, where he was caught by an
avalanche. it is said that he left the car
and he threw himself on the snow, being
carried away by the “wave”. People say
that he survived and his car was found
empty after 6 months, when the snow
melted.
Årbogen 2011 31
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