In the second tender for the footbridge over the Elbe in Hradec, there is only one interested party

Hradec Králové – Only one bidder has registered for the repeated tender by the city hall in Hradec Králové for the construction of a footbridge over the Elbe near the Aldis congress center. No one applied in the first tender. The city hall subsequently eased the competition conditions and hoped that more companies would register. The submitted offer will be evaluated by a selection committee at the end of the week, said Jiří Bláha (ODS), the deputy mayor for investments, today to ČTK. He did not rule out that the city would have to announce a third competition. The project for the footbridge, estimated at 46 million crowns excluding VAT, has been in preparation by the city since 2003.

The footbridge is designed from a reinforced concrete slab deck with a pair of steel prestressed cables and steel ribs. It is not a common construction, as high-performance concrete of the UHPC category (Ultra-High Performance Concrete) must be used, which can only be produced by a limited number of manufacturers in the Czech Republic. "In the Czech Republic, there are only four footbridges using this concrete," noted Bláha.

The city also received an objection regarding the tender, which was announced in early May, related to the tender documentation. The complainant argued that the qualification conditions should not include a requirement that the supplier must be able to work with UHPC technology. "We hold the opinion, in agreement with the designer, that UHPC is a necessary qualification condition. We rejected the objection," said Bláha. However, he admitted that for a potential third competition, the city could discuss with the designer whether the UHPC condition is necessary.

Most of the construction costs should be covered by a European grant from the ITI program. Due to the grant, the footbridge should be completed by the end of 2023. The city also committed to the construction of the footbridge in a contract with Československá obchodní banka, which began building a regional headquarters for a thousand employees in the Aldis zone last year.

The footbridge will be for pedestrians and cyclists and will connect Šimkovy sady and the vicinity of the Aldis congress center with Karla IV. street in the city center. The city hall already built a pedestrian boulevard in the Aldis zone in 2003 for 23 million crowns, which the footbridge was supposed to connect to.

In the past, nature conservationists had reservations about the footbridge project. The original project planned to fell a single oak tree on the embankment, against which conservationists successfully protested. Delays and disputes also accompanied the architectural competition. Ornithologists raised objections regarding the design of the footbridge, as the proposed footbridge could interfere with the flight paths of birds, especially swans. The project was modified due to the comments from ecologists.