14 companies want to make dreams of Świnoujście inhabitants come true
Fourteen companies want to design and build the tunnel in Świnoujście (West Pomerania) – announced the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways in Poland. This is how many requests to participate in the tender were registered with the Directorate.
– We start checking submitted applications with verification of the experience of companies in the implementation of tunnel investments. This process can take a few months. The entities interested in participating in the tender are Polish and foreign consortia; on the list are, among others, contractors from China, Turkey, Italy and Spain – said Mateusz Grzeszczuk, the spokesman for the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) branch in Szczecin.
The tender announced by GDDKiA is a limited procedure. As Grzeszczuk explains, four entities will have to be eliminated at the preliminary assessment stage. If it appears that all 14 companies meet the basic conditions of participation in the proceedings, the decisive factor will be experience in building underwater tunnels and the length of completed constructions. After this stage, 10 entities meeting the conditions for participation will be invited to submit quotation. Grzeszczuk added, that signing a contract with the contractor of the project is planned for the next year.
The criteria for the tender are primarily the price (90 percent), and the timing of investment (10 percent). The selected contractor will have from 47 to 50 months for the task, including 15 months for the design work and obtaining a permit for the investment. Winter periods will be excluded from the time of execution of construction works.
As the spokesman for the president of Świnoujście Robert Karelus emphasizes, the city has a large interest in the construction of a permanent connection between the islands of Uznam and Wolin.
– We hope that the price offered by the company will be the lowest possible, but the execution will be the best possible. This all brings us closer to the realization of the most important dreams of our inhabitants, for which we have been waiting for years. If all goes well, at the end of 2017 or early 2018 the drill will start.
Karelus hopes that the first cars will drive through the tunnel at the end of 2021.
– Initial construction cost of the investment is PLN 950 million. The town strives for co-finance in the rate of 85 percent under the EU Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020. The adjudication of the competition is scheduled for August and September – the Świnoujście spokesman added.
Świnoujście is the only town in Poland situated on several dozens of islands, of which only three are inhabited (Uznam, Wolin and Karsibór). The Uznam island is a center of administrative services and the seaside district with tourist facilities and the spa; it is here where 80 percent of Świnoujście residents live. The town has no road connection to the national road network. Two ferry crossings function here.
The total length of the route will be about 3.4 km, including the 1.44 km of the tunnel, which according to the obtained in 2010 environmental decision will be made with a TBM technology. The internal diameter of the tunnel will be 12 m; in it a two-way roadway will be made; below the road an escape tunnel will be built.
The construction of this tunnel – according to the town authorities – is a necessity. Last year, during the summer season occupancy of accommodation reached almost 100 percent, and more than 2 million cars benefited from the ferry crossings. Almost forty year old ferries will soon not be able to handle the increasing number of passengers – predicts the town. In the summer season even about 11 thousand cars use the ferry crossings daily.
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Computer animation of the tunnel to be built in Świnoujście, Poland.
