Sofia municipality intends 6M leva revamp of 2km of Dondoukov Boulevard
Sofia municipality intends repairing about two kilometres of Dondoukov Boulevard, in the centre of the Bulgarian capital city, over the next three years in a project with an estimated cost of 6.66 million leva (about 3.33 million euro), subject to finding the money.
The plan includes a revamp of the stretch of the road from the intersection with Krakra Street up to the Youth Theatre, with the replacement of the pavement’s current paved surface with asphalt, repairs to the tram tracks and the building of new platforms for tram stops, respectively, near the intersections with Vassil Levski Boulevard and Rakovski Street. Street lighting also will be redone.
However, according to a report by Bulgarian-language news website Mediapool, construction industry representatives who have examined the tender documentation expressed concern about the “unnecessarily” stringent requirement for applicants and the complex selection process.
Bidders, who have until 4pm on October 25 2012 to put in their tenders, should have turnover triple the contract price, or about 20 million leva.
Candidates should have completed at least five contracts in the past five years, at least two of which should have included repairing track. Construction chamber sources indicated to Mediapool that so few companies met this criterion that it was suspected that the documents were tailored to a specific firm.
Required qualifications for constructors also are higher than normal, requiring the bidder’s project head to have a master’s degree in transportation engineering or the construction of transportation facilities, and no less than 10 years’ experience. Also required are three ISO certificates, in construction work quality management, environmental management and health and safety management.
The tender is to be decided on a comprehensive assessment with a theoretical total of 100 points, with price the largest factor at 60 points, technical indicators 35 points and stated time to carry out the contract at five points.
(Main photo, of a tram near the corner of Krakra Street and Dondoukov Boulevard: Clive Leviev-Sawyer)
