Bulgaria to sign 364M leva contracts on tunnel under Shipka
The head of Bulgaria’s Road Infrastructure Agency, Todor Vassilev, will on June 8 sign contracts worth more than 364.4 million leva (about 186.6 million euro) for the design and construction, and construction supervision, of a tunnel under Shipka Peak, the agency said.
The project envisages 10.549km of road construction, of which 7.96km will be new construction and 2.59km reconstruction of the existing Gabrovo – Kazanluk I-5 road.
The tunnel under Shipka will be 3.22km and there will four smaller tunnels, of 171m, 240m, 90m and 290m, respectively, the Road Infrastructure Agency said.
Six bridges and an underpass will be built, 12 reinforced embankments, a reinforced concrete retaining wall, a reinforced concrete fortification wall, among other items.
The tunnel, which is to be two lanes, under Shipka Peak will be a kilometre west of Shipka Pass and a kilometre east of Malusha Peak.
The northern part of the tunnel will be in Gabrovo district and the southern part in Stara Zagora district.
The Road Infrastructure Agency said that the tunnel would be a key point in north-south traffic.
The main transport directions that it will serve are Rousse – Veliko Turnovo – Shipka – Stara Zagora – Svilengrad (Makaza) and Oryahovo – Sevlievo – Shipka – Stara Zagora – Svilengrad (Makaza), the agency said.
The contract for design and construction, for 358 020 000 leva with VAT, will be signed with the PSVT consortium, which includes the Putni Stroezhi Veliko Turnovo, Hydrostroy, and Putinzhenirigstroy companies.
The contract provides for eight months for design and a three and half years for construction, implying completion in 2027.
The contract for construction supervision, worth 6 479 935 leva with VAT, will be signed with Transconsult Sveko, in which the participants are the Transconsult BG and Sveko Energoproekt companies.
It is close to three years since the public procurement procedure started. The signing of the contracts follows the conclusion of court actions challenging the public procurement decisions.
(Photo of Shipka: Vislupus, via Wikimedia Commons)
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