Developing Mountainous Tunnels in Greece—The Case of the Melissourgoi Tunnel

The paper deals with the proposed development of a mountainous tunnel in the Tzoumerka area in Greece that can facilitate ease of access between the villages of Melisosurgoi and Theodoriana. These two settlements are currently at the end of the mountainous ring road and although positioned 10 km apart, a travel time of almost 2.5 h is required to reach them. The design aspects in terms of tunnel alignment, geometrical and cross-sectional characteristics, and support requirements are presented, along with the projected cost estimations. Yet, the paper is focused on assessing the feasibility of the project not only taking into account mere financial terms, but also considering—besides the construction costs—all other benefits attained by the development of the road tunnel which are related with the drastic minimisation of the travel distance and time between the two villages and all other settlements in the wider area. The above framework provides all the required data to directly compare the development costs along with all the direct and indirect benefits related to the socio-economic environment to be developed affecting the communities in the area, throughout the whole life-cycle of the project.