The evil staircase: Kakia Skala

Roadway and railway projects currently in the works will make travel from Corinth to Athens, Greece, faster and safer. The precipitous cliffs of Kakia Skala make the car journey slow and dangerous. The Greek's government's chosen solution is a 780 km long motorway that runs from Patra in the west via Athens to Thessalonika and Euzoni in the north, as well as a new railway express project that runs from Corinth to Athens, scheduled for completion in 2004 in time for the Olympic Games. Adjustments were necessary over the course of the motorway's construction. For instance, after a 1999 earthquake, the design parameters were made more stringent. Both roadway and railway tunnels were set further back into the cliffs. The construction of tunnels proved difficult because of steep slopes, tight spaces and karstic voids. Overall, however, work on the tunnels is advancing at a rapid pace.