Three companies applied for the fourth tender for the footbridge in H. Králové

Hradec Králové - Three companies have applied for the fourth tender for the construction of a footbridge over the Elbe River in Hradec Králové. The results of the tender should be discussed by the city council at the end of June. The city spokesperson Petr Vinklář told ČTK today. The city did not disclose the price parameters of the offers. The construction of the footbridge in the area of the Aldis congress center has been in preparation since 2003, with previous tenders failing due to high prices.

"We cannot disclose the amount of the price offers yet, but we already know that there is interest, and there has been some progress. At the end of next week, the selection committee will meet to evaluate and assess the offers," said Deputy Mayor for Investments Jiří Bláha (ODS). The only criterion for evaluating the competition is price.

In April this year, the council approved that there should be 117 million crowns allocated in the city budget for the construction in 2021. Most of the cost should be covered by subsidies.

The construction of the footbridge is closely linked to the construction of the regional headquarters of Československá obchodní banka, which has been rising in the Aldis area since 2018. The company selected for the construction of the footbridge will be able to start on the construction site only in the fall of 2021, after the builders complete work on the ČSOB building.

In the original contract with ČSOB, the city committed, under a penalty of 15 million crowns, to complete the footbridge by this April, which did not happen. However, the city averted the threat of a fine when it agreed with the bank to extend the deadline by more than three years.

In the last tender, the only interested party offered the footbridge for a price of 142 million crowns excluding VAT. The second tender was canceled also due to high prices, and no one applied for the first tender. The city initially estimated the construction cost at around 48 million crowns excluding VAT.

A peculiarity of the proposed footbridge is that it is to be constructed using an unusual technology of special high-strength concrete.