Ministry Launches Tender for Contractor for PPP Project to Repair Bridges

Bratislava, 31 March (TASR) - The Transport Ministry on Tuesday submitted information to the journal of the Public Procurement Office (UVO) regarding the launch of a tender to find a concessionaire that, as part of a PPP project, will repair 558 bridges on first-class roads and keep them in very good condition for 30 years. As reported by the Transport Ministry, if everything goes according to plan, the winning company should be announced sometime next year. "It's no secret that the condition of our bridges is poor. If we continued at the current pace, by 2040 we would have to close every fifth bridge, which would cause a transport disaster. It's therefore very important that we've found a way to reverse this situation and significantly increase the safety of our roads," said Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee). The estimated annual payment that the state will make to the contractor for maintaining the repaired bridges over 30 years is €83.4 million, but experience with PPP projects has shown that competitive bidding can generate significant savings. For example, in the PPP project for the D4R7 construction, the final price was 58-percent lower than the estimate. The Transport Ministry provided preliminary information about the tender preparations back in early February, stating the estimated value of the PPP project at €2.873 billion. The pre-construction phase and construction are expected to take five years, followed by 30 years of bridge operation and maintenance. The bridges to be repaired under the PPP were selected by an international consortium of consultants based on a multi-criteria analysis approved by the Value for Money Unit. The list primarily includes bridges in categories 5 and 6, meaning that their technical condition is poor or very poor. The contractor will completely reconstruct them or demolish and build new ones. At the same time, the concessionaire is obligated to maintain and repair these bridges for 30 years and, upon completion of the project, must return them to state administration in very good technical condition," said Transport Ministry spokesperson Petra Polacikova. The remaining bridges on first-class roads will be maintained as usual by the Slovak Road Administration during the project. am/df