Contract signed for Romania’s first motorway section over Carpathians

On February 7, the National Road Company (CNAIR) signed the contract for the design and execution of section 2 of the Sibiu-Pitesti motorway (A1), a 31-km section between Boita and Cornetu.

It is the first motorway section over the Carpathians in Romania, and it should be completed by 2027.

The contractor is an association led by the Turkish company MAPA, the only bidder that submitted an offer, asking RON 4.25 bln (EUR 850 mln), well below the CNAIR estimate of RON 4.6-5.2 bln, Economedia.ro reported.

Just like section 3 of the same motorway (the other segment that stretches over the Carpathians rising technical difficulties), section 2 was avoided by bidders because of the outdated and inadequate feasibility study.

Chances are, therefore, that the contractor may fail to meet the deadline and/or ask for a higher price as a result of details not clarified by the feasibility study.

Last week, WeBuild (formerly Astaldi) filed a complex set of objections to the tender held by CNAIR for section 3 of the motorway - not yet awarded. MAPA is the sole bidder for section 3 of A1 as well. Astaldi objects to the very poor quality of the feasibility study that forces the bidders to either ask for very high prices (to cover the risk) or take high risks.

(Photo: Pixabay)