Nine Bid to Prepare Concept Design of Shipka Pass Tunnel
Nine bidders have submitted proposals for an advanced concept design for a 3.2 kilometre (km) tunnel under the Balkan Range's Shipka peak near Gabrovo, in central Bulgaria, the Road Infrastructure Agency (RIA) said.
Multinational tie-up Mosty, consisting of Poland’s Mosty Katowice and its Bulgarian subsidiary Mosty Bulgaria, has filed the lowest bid of 104,000 levs ($73,000/53,000 euro), RIA said in a press release.
Bids for the design of the tunnel range between 104,000 levs and 295,000 levs, RIA added.
The winner of the tender has to determine the optimal length of the tunnel under Shipka peak in regard to technical and economic parameters.
The 150 million euro tunnel is part of a project for the construction of a road bypassing the town of Gabrovo. The first phase of the project was launched in May last year and is being carried out by a consortium, consisting of local companies Hidrostroy, Patni Stroezhi – Veliko Tarnovo and Patinzheneringstroy. It involves building a 23.3 km road section, estimated at 92.9 million levs, RIA said last year.
The project is co-financed under the EU Cohesion Fund and operational programme Transport 2007-2013.