Burrel’s ring road swallows over 2 million euros, collapses completely before being put into use

The Lower Ring Road of Burrel, a public investment of around 1.3 million euros, has collapsed completely before being put into use. While the causes of this degradation remain unclear, the Albanian Road Authority (ARRSH) has urgently opened a new tender worth 1 million euros for repairs.

Footage from the Lower Ring Road of Burrel gives the impression of a structure left behind after some apocalyptic event. In one segment, the asphalt has cracked, exposing the layers of gravel and supporting concrete, while on the collapsed part near a manhole, some stones have been placed as makeshift signage to warn anyone who accidentally ends up there that it is impassable beyond.

A few meters further down, the road body has slid completely; the asphalt blocks have separated and fallen down, taking with them the foundation soil and the metal protective barriers.

This is not a post-apocalyptic scene, but the sight of an investment that, according to Prime Minister Edi Rama, was nearly completed in October 2025.

The public investment, named in the tender as “Asphalt paving system for the roads of the Northern Region Directorate Shkodër, the Great Ring Road of Burrel,” contracted by the Albanian Road Authority for a value of around 1.3 million euros, has degraded before being put into use. The reasons for the collapse remain officially unclear, but without this matter being closed, ARRSH has opened a second tender of about 1 million euros for emergency works on the same segment.

The new intervention makes experts and local residents suspect there is an attempt to cover up the previously caused damage. According to them, the haste could bring similar problems, and the defects should be looked for in the project.

“The causes of failure, in the successful completion of any construction object, should first be sought in the project, since it must consider all influencing factors. Construction projects should never begin without being supported by a complete study, approved by the relevant authorities, of the terrain’s geology,” Prof. Gafurr Muka from the Faculty of Geology and Mining told BIRN.

Along similar lines, opposition MP Denisa Vata said the new intervention offered no guarantees. “If the initial investment did not prove functional, on what technical and economic analysis is the assessment based that a new intervention will address the existing problems?” she asked.

Questioned by BIRN about the case, neither ARRSH nor the Municipality of Mat responded by the time of this article’s publication.

The collapse of the new road in Burrel is not an isolated case. Just last year and at the beginning of this year, a series of road segments in the country, some old and others under construction, suffered collapses or visible damage.

The most serious was the collapse of a part of the road under construction between Librazhd and Pogradec, which blocked the connection between Korça and Tirana for weeks on end. Likewise, a controversial, high-cost segment connecting Qukës with Qafë Plloçë suffered a collapse two months after being inaugurated by Prime Minister Rama. The road was inaugurated in September and collapsed in November 2025.

Officially, heavy rainfall was blamed for the landslides. However, experts and field specialists deny that the problems came simply as a consequence of the bad weather and the November 2025 rains, when the collapse also occurred.

Nezir Rizvani, the former mayor of Mat, told BIRN that the damages are a consequence of poor and poorly studied design of the area.

“In my opinion, the geological structure of the soil, underground waters, etc., were not studied and taken into account. Also, the history of continuous, sliding damage to this road segment was not considered,” he said.

Rizvani demanded that the municipality take responsibility for the situation, since it was the initiator or proposer of this project.

“Besides this, the Municipality as a rule should have continuously monitored the works and contested irregularities, notifying ARRSH about it,” Rizvani said.

Geologist Muka also sees the reasons as beyond simple rainfall. “I say with conviction that geology is not at fault. The responsibility should be sought in the project, which either did not consider the geological study or was based on an incomplete study,” Muka said.

Nezir Sinani, the director of emergencies in the Municipality of Mat for six years, said the area was known for its risk, since the soil composition and the discharge there of the city’s wastewater and stormwater, although regulated, made it unstable. But he too is critical of the project.

“However, a good project based on engineering-geological studies can withstand the risk from landslides,” he said.

Democratic Party MP Denisa Vata raised doubts about the planning method and noted that costs were being left to taxpayers, without accountability being sought for the failure.

“In this context, several institutional issues remain to be clarified: – how the approval of the project in question was carried out; – what technical verifications were performed by ARRSH before starting the procurement procedure and on what basis its feasibility was certified,” she said.

Vata said the new intervention also brought no guarantee that the road would hold. “It is also in the public interest to understand which mechanisms guarantee that this investment will not require further interventions in the future,” Vata concluded./BIRN