The process of the construction of a second bridge over the Danube was moved ahead last Friday, May 7, with an invitation for submission of designs and construction schedules.
The so-called pre-qualification procedure for the bridge that will link the Bulgarian town of Vidin with Romanian Calafat will include the review of tender dossiers, consisting of the bridge designs and the schedule for the construction works.
The procedure will be held according to the rules of the European Commission and companies of all EU-member countries, as well as of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, are invited to submit tenders.
Pre-qualification dossiers have been available for purchase at the Ministry of Transport and Communications since May 7. The deadline for submitting applications is June 14, 2004.
A short list of not more than eight applicants will be drawn up and sent for approval to the European Commission. It will then be published on the Commission's website, as well as on the website of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The project for building this second bridge over the Danube, between Bulgaria and Romania at Vidin-Calafat, is a key priority of the Bulgarian Government. It is of great socio-economic significance for the region and will provide the missing link along the route of the European Corridor IV.
The project is worth 230 million euro and is co-financed by the European Union ISPA Programme, European Investment Bank, Agence Francaise de Developpement, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, and the Government of Bulgaria.
The conceptual design for Danube Bridge 2 was chosen about a year ago. The working title of the selected conceptual design is "green". Two other alternatives labeled "blue" and "red" were also discussed. In the green alternative, the bridge will be 1 km long, with four traffic lanes, pedestrian pavements, a cycling lane and a common border railway station.
However, the construction of the bridge is already running late. Contractors were expected to be invited by the end of last year and building was supposed to begin early in 2004. This was the initial plan of the international consultant, a British-Spanish consortium between Scott Wilson Holdings (UK), Iberinsa (Spain) and Flint & Neill Partnership (UK). The bridge should be open in 2007.
In a report on the announced launch of the tender, Reuters commented on Sunday that the project had been stalled for 14 years by red tape and a dispute over the bridge's location and financing between the two Balkan neighbours. However, this time the prospects are good and the bridge might be completed within the deadline.
"I expect to have a signed deal with a major European construction firm in January or February of next year," Deputy Transport Minister Sofia Kassidova was quoted as saying.
She added that the bridge should be finished by the end of 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania are expected to have joined the EU.
The Danube forms a natural border between the two countries, which are now linked by a single, heavily congested two-lane road and rail bridge that spans the river ports of Rousse and Guirgui. Romania had insisted on building the new site further east near the Black sea. It retracted in 2000 when Bulgaria agreed to finance the construction but the project was delayed four years more by red tape, Reuters said.
- Business Staff
The so-called pre-qualification procedure for the bridge that will link the Bulgarian town of Vidin with Romanian Calafat will include the review of tender dossiers, consisting of the bridge designs and the schedule for the construction works.
The procedure will be held according to the rules of the European Commission and companies of all EU-member countries, as well as of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, are invited to submit tenders.
Pre-qualification dossiers have been available for purchase at the Ministry of Transport and Communications since May 7. The deadline for submitting applications is June 14, 2004.
A short list of not more than eight applicants will be drawn up and sent for approval to the European Commission. It will then be published on the Commission's website, as well as on the website of the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The project for building this second bridge over the Danube, between Bulgaria and Romania at Vidin-Calafat, is a key priority of the Bulgarian Government. It is of great socio-economic significance for the region and will provide the missing link along the route of the European Corridor IV.
The project is worth 230 million euro and is co-financed by the European Union ISPA Programme, European Investment Bank, Agence Francaise de Developpement, Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, and the Government of Bulgaria.
The conceptual design for Danube Bridge 2 was chosen about a year ago. The working title of the selected conceptual design is "green". Two other alternatives labeled "blue" and "red" were also discussed. In the green alternative, the bridge will be 1 km long, with four traffic lanes, pedestrian pavements, a cycling lane and a common border railway station.
However, the construction of the bridge is already running late. Contractors were expected to be invited by the end of last year and building was supposed to begin early in 2004. This was the initial plan of the international consultant, a British-Spanish consortium between Scott Wilson Holdings (UK), Iberinsa (Spain) and Flint & Neill Partnership (UK). The bridge should be open in 2007.
In a report on the announced launch of the tender, Reuters commented on Sunday that the project had been stalled for 14 years by red tape and a dispute over the bridge's location and financing between the two Balkan neighbours. However, this time the prospects are good and the bridge might be completed within the deadline.
"I expect to have a signed deal with a major European construction firm in January or February of next year," Deputy Transport Minister Sofia Kassidova was quoted as saying.
She added that the bridge should be finished by the end of 2007, when Bulgaria and Romania are expected to have joined the EU.
The Danube forms a natural border between the two countries, which are now linked by a single, heavily congested two-lane road and rail bridge that spans the river ports of Rousse and Guirgui. Romania had insisted on building the new site further east near the Black sea. It retracted in 2000 when Bulgaria agreed to finance the construction but the project was delayed four years more by red tape, Reuters said.
- Business Staff
