Despite protests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the construction of the Pelješac Bridge is continuing.
The Croatian Roads public company opened on Friday three bids for the first phase of the building of the Pelješac Bridge. The bidders are Astaldi from Italy and IC Ictas from Turkey; Strabag from Germany; and a Chinese consortium under the name China Road and Bridge Corporation, reports N1 on September 15, 2017.
Out of eight potential bidders who have passed the first pre-qualification phase, the three bidders have submitted their bids for the construction of the first phase of the Pelješac Bridge, whose value, along with access roads, is estimated at 1.8 billion kunas.
The joint offer of Astaldi and the Turkish company is 2.55 billion kunas excluding VAT or 3.19 billion kunas with VAT. Stragab’s offer is worth 2.62 billion kunas without VAT or 3.28 billion kunas with VAT. The Chinese consortium China Road and Bridge Corporation is ready to construct the bridge for 2.08 billion kunas without VAT or 2.6 billion kunas with VAT. The consortium includes CCCC Highway Consultants, CCCC Second Highway Engineering and CCCC Second Harbor Engineering.
Astaldi has already performed works on the Zagreb-Goričan motorway in Croatia, while the Turkish partner built one of the bridges across the Bosphorus.
The first phase of bridge construction involves the building of the bridge itself and access roads. The tender evaluation deadline is 120 days, however, as explained by Croatian Roads, the process will start immediately so that the contractor could be determined as soon as possible.
The project “Road Connection with Southern Dalmatia” foresees the construction of a bridge over the Adriatic Sea, linking the Dubrovnik-Neretva County with the rest of the country. The bridge will enable the unhindered flow of goods and people throughout the year, especially during the tourist season. Currently, all road traffic to southern Dalmatia has to pass through a short stretch of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Pelješac Bridge has been declared a project of exceptional strategic importance for the country. The total value of the project is 526 million euros with VAT included, with about 357 million euros coming from the EU funds. The decision to co-finance the largest Croatian project ever was made by the European Commission in June this year.
Construction of the bridge, which will be 2.4 kilometres long and 55 meters tall, should last for 36 months from the start of the works. The bridge will have four traffic lanes.
The first stage of the prequalification process was passed by eight companies which were required to submit binding financial offers in the second phase. Croatian Roads as an investor invited eight companies to the second round since they met the conditions of technical, legal and financial capacities. In the first round of the competition, interest for the construction of the Pelješac Bridge was expressed by 12 companies, but four did not meet the conditions.
All prerequisites for the bridge construction to start should be fulfilled no later than the end of this year. However, Bosnia and Herzegovina has lately begun to demand that the construction should be delayed until the border between the two countries is determined.
Translated from N1.
