Croatia’s public procurement body has rejected complaints by all three international consortia over a winning low tender for the Peljeski bridge.
Bids for construction of the four-lane 2.4km bridge were submitted in the middle of last year. The bridge will connect Croatian territory by traversing the Adriatic Sea’s Mali Ston Bay. Vehicles must currently head from Croatia into Bosnia to re-enter a peninsula that is Croatian territory.
Croatia’s State Commission for Control of Public Ordering Processes – DKOM – said there were no grounds for retendering the contract. Two consortia submitted their complaints to DKOM in January only days after similar action by another consortia led by the Austrian firm Strabag.
The Turkish and Italian consortium tendered bids around €343 million Strabag offered around €349 million. But China Road and Bridges Corporation came in at around €208 million.
DKOM said there was no violation of procurement rules by the successful bidder, China Road and Bridge, and that no issues related to the bidding price.
DKOM also noted that any issues over bidders submitting unsustainably low prices in order to win work was an issue for the European Commission that handle complaints over dumping pricing.
While the bridge will be good for the economy of the Croatian area, Bosnia and Herzegovina has in the past requested that Croatia pause procurement for the project pending discussions between the two countries over the design.
Bosnia’s concern is that the largest ocean-going ships should have access up Ston Bay to Bosnia’s only sea port, Neum, should the Bosnian government decide to upgrade the terminals there.
Discussions have resulted in Croatia accepting design changes – and added costs – suggested by Bosnia, including an increase of bridge’s height from 35m to 55m and spacing bridge supports at least 200m apart.
Project completion was originally set for 2022.
In June, the European Commission approved €357 million of the European Union’s Cohesion Policy funds to build the bridge – around 85% of the project’s cost. The European Union is also funding supporting infrastructure, such as access roads, including tunnels, bridges and viaducts, the building of an 8km bypass near the town of Ston and upgrading works on the existing road D414.
