Hradec Králové – The footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Elbe in Hradec Králové, which the city has been building since last September, is expected to be 7.5 million crowns more expensive. Its total cost should amount to 169.3 million crowns including VAT. The reason for the increase in cost is the adjustments made during construction that could not have been foreseen. ČTK learned this from the documents discussed by the city council on Tuesday. However, the council did not approve the higher price of the project. The 103-meter-long footbridge is expected to be completed by winter and should serve the public starting in early March 2023.
Higher costs were incurred, for example, by the adjustment of the end part of the footbridge due to electrical cables that were found at a different height. The strengthening of the bridge deck during its installation, adjustments to the footbridge's prestressing system, and the construction of lighting were also more expensive.
The city council did not give a positive opinion on the footbridge's price increase and tasked the Deputy Mayor for Investments Jiří Bláha (ODS) to discuss the price increase with the heads of the clubs in the city council. The approval of an amendment to the contract, which adjusts the price increase, should then be discussed by the council members at the meeting on August 30.
"It was not approved because it is an increase of an already high price and it will be necessary to negotiate this with the council members. That is to convene the heads of the council clubs and try to explain to them that the price increase arises from truly objective matters," said Mayor Alexandr Hrabálek (ODS) to ČTK.
Deputy Mayor for Economics Monika Štayrová (for ANO) told ČTK that the increase in the footbridge's price surprised her, "especially because we are used to the fact that additional work is decided on first and then implemented," she stated.
The construction of the footbridge, built by the company SMP CZ, has been prepared by the city since 2003. The footbridge will connect the city center with the Aldis area. Hradec expects it to bring greater revitalization to Aldis and Smetanovo embankment. The city has obtained a European grant of 102.7 million crowns for the construction.
Compared to other footbridges, the Hradec construction is significantly more expensive. For example, Pardubice opened a footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists over the Elbe at the end of 2020 for 40.8 million crowns. According to the Hradec city hall, the high price is due to the unusual construction and technology. The footbridge consists of supporting cables, a steel ribbed structure, and 39 pieces of slender concrete segments of the deck, which are made from a special high-strength concrete of category UHPC.
Originally, the Hradec city hall considered a price of under 40 million crowns for the footbridge before the architectural competition in 2014. When the city hall announced a competition for a construction company in 2019, no one applied. The city hall canceled another two tenders when the only interested party offered prices significantly over 100 million crowns. At that time, the city hall considered abandoning the project and looking for a cheaper variant of the footbridge. In the end, it announced a fourth tender and selected the company SMP CZ from the French group Vinci from three applicants.
The construction has been delayed by a number of circumstances in the past. Environmentalists and ornithologists had reservations about the project. Delays and disputes also accompanied the architectural competition. The start of construction was then delayed as the Československá obchodní banka completed its building project in the Aldis area.
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