June 7 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria will sign on June 8 contracts for the design, construction and supervision of a road tunnel under the Shipka peak in the Balkan mountain range worth a total of 364.5 million levs ($199 million/186.4 million euro), the road infrastructure agency said on Tuesday.
The first contract, for the design and construction of the bypass road of Gabrovo city, including the Shipka tunnel, will be signed with the PSVT consortium comprising local construction companies Patni Stroezhi - Veliko Tarnovo, Hidrostroy and Patinzheneringstroy-T, the government agency said in an e-mailed statement.
The contract for the construction of a road section of 10.5 kilometres in length is worth just over 358 million levs. It will involve the construction of five tunnels of 4 km in total, including the tunnel under Shipka peak which will be 3.2 km long. The investor group will also build six bridges, one underpass and several other road amenities.
The deadline for completing the works is 240 days for the design and 1,280 days for the construction works, starting after the signing of the contract.
The bypass and tunnel construction project will receive financing under the operational programme Transport Connectivity 2021-2027, which is part of the European Union cohesion funding mechanism.
The second contract, for the supervision of construction works, will be awarded to the Transconsult - Sveko consortium, which is made up of Transconsult - BG and Sveko Energoproekt. The contract is worth a little under 6.5 million levs, the agency said.
The Shipka tunnel is expected to significantly reduce travel times between the northern and southern parts of Bulgaria, which are divided by the Balkan range making traffic much dependent on weather conditions.
In April, the regional development ministry said that the PSVT consortium, which won the public procurement tender for the construction contract, confirmed the price of its offer.