Skip to main content

Prague wins legal battle over Blanka Tunnel costs

The Czech capital Prague will not have to pay €63 million to construction firm CKD Praha DIZ for cost overruns on the Blanka Tunnel complex. CKD Praha DIZ sought the amount over an alleged rise in costs when completion of the tunnel was delayed, according to a report by Radio Praha.
September 6, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

The Czech capital Prague will not have to pay €63 million to construction firm CKD Praha DIZ for cost overruns on the Blanka Tunnel complex.

CKD Praha DIZ sought the amount over an alleged rise in costs when completion of the tunnel was delayed, according to a report by Radio Praha.

A court of arbitration also ruled that the company must pay the city’s legal costs of around €630,000. The court’s decisions are binding and final.

The 6.4km Blanka Tunnel complex is a part of Prague’s unfinished ring road system and is the longest road tunnel in the Czech Republic and the longest city tunnel in Europe. Just under 40km of the 83km Ring Road are complete.

The tunnel, which connects the area west of Prague Castle with Trója district in the northeast, consists of three tunnels - Bubenečský, Dejvický and Brusnický. Construction started in 2006 and completion was supposed to be 2011.

However, delays put the opening date back to September last year and doubled the overall cost to around €1.6 billion.

A survey by Prague’s Technical Administration of Roadways recently found that on averages 75,000 vehicles use the Blanka tunnel daily.

Related Content

  • Norway’s long tunnel looks set to beat records
    September 19, 2016
    Norway looks set to retain its position as a leader in tunnelling with the project moving forward to build a new link connecting the city of Stavanger with Bokn. This 27km road tunnel is being designed to carry four lanes of traffic, which would make it the world’s longest underwater road tunnel. It will also be the world’s longest four lane tunnel as well as the world’s deepest road tunnel, dropping around 385-390m below sea level. The Rogaland Fixed Link will form part of the E39 route, connecting Kristia
  • Ambitious road tunnelling projects around the world
    November 29, 2013
    The construction of the world’s longest subsea road tunnel in Norway and a vital new link under the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey are among a host of exciting, major road tunnel-based projects currently being undertaken across the globe. Guy Woodford reports Sandvik DTi series tunnelling jumbos are being used for the excavation of Solbakktunnel, set to become the world’s longest subsea road tunnel.
  • ASECAP: maintenance mindshift turns spending into investment
    August 4, 2017
    With an estimated value of €8 trillion, the road infrastructure is probably the European Union’s largest single asset. It accounts for 83% of passenger journeys and more than 70% of freight movement. Despite this importance, global investment in roads - especially maintenance - has fallen, said Christophe Nicodeme, European Road Federation secretary general. There are grave consequences, noted Nicodeme in his opening keynote address to the recent Study and Information Days gathering, an annual event for mem
  • Skanska wins E18 section near Oslo
    June 19, 2023
    Construction of 660m of the Høvik Tunnel is included in the contract, as well as a cycle path.