Croatia rejects complaints over Peljeski Bridge tender

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
April 6, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

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 945 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.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Funding for Croatia's road infrastructure
    May 8, 2012
    The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved two loans worth €85 million for Croatia's road infrastructure. The first part of the loan is worth €60 million and will be used for construction of the Corridor Vc highway. The deal was signed between the EIB and Croatian motorways company Hrvatske Autoceste (HAC). The loan will finance 50% of the construction of the Corridor Vc highway. This includes a 12.5km section of the highway along the southern and northern part of the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Read More
  • All roads lead to Dubrovnik: Corridors for Shared Prosperity
    December 13, 2018
    The European Union Road Federation is organising, in cooperation with the International Road Federation (IRF), the Croatian Roads Company (Hrvatske Ceste), the Croatian Road Association (Via Vita) and the University of Zagreb, the European Road Conference under the theme Corridors for Shared Prosperity in the iconic city of Dubrovnik, from 22 to 24 October 2018 Due to its privileged geographical position, Croatia represents a key crossroads in the connectivity of the South East Europe region, securing a
    Read More
  • Poland: tendering for Lodz's Western Ring-Road attracts 17 offers
    February 10, 2017
    The tender for Lodz's €372 million Western Ring-Road (Zachodnia Obwodnica Lodzi) has attracted 17 bidders, according to Polish media. Construction has been split into two parts: a 12.2km section between the Lodz-Lublinek junction and the Lodz Teofilow junction and a section of 16.3km section from Lodz Teofilow to Slowik, excluding the Emilia junction. Budimex has reportedly made the lowest offer in both contract contests. Polish media also reported that €530 million from the European Union’s Cohesi
    Read More
  • Controversial Russian bridge opens
    August 10, 2018
    The first stage of a controversial Russian bridge project is now complete, with the link having been opened to use by cars and buses. The Kerch Strait bridge spans the Black Sea, connecting Russia’s Taman Peninsula in Krasnodar with Crimea, the latter having been controversially annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The official opening of the 19km-long bridge was carried out by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, who drove across the link in a Russian-manufactured Kamaz truck to reach the city of Kerch.
    Read More

Highlighted Content