Technická správa komunikací hlavního města Prahy has issued a separate contract to complete the unfinished U Loděnice bridge, which it had to preserve after a decision of the competition authority.
Technická správa komunikací hlavního města Prahy (TSK) has issued a separate contract to complete the unfinished part of the Libeň Bridge, the so-called U Loděnice bridge. It had to preserve the structure after the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) intervened in the original contract. The estimated value of the new contract is 237 million crowns excluding VAT, of which 40 million crowns is a reserve for work whose necessity and scope are not yet certain.[1][2][3]
Previous course of events
In 2022, TSK chose the company Metrostav TBR for the reconstruction of the Libeň Bridge. The city leadership then approved significant changes to the project, including replacing the bridge over the river with a replica instead of the originally planned reconstruction. ÚOHS concluded that the company had thereby in effect awarded itself a new contract without a tender procedure and ordered TSK not to continue with the original contract. In the meantime, TSK had demolished one of the bridges of the bridge complex and started to build its replacement; it had to interrupt and preserve it.[1][2][3]
Scope of the contract and next steps
According to a spokeswoman for the municipal company, the U Loděnice bridge is to replace the original flood-plain bridge and two adjacent bridges.[1][3] Deputy Mayor Jaromír Beránek (Czech Pirate Party) said that the priority is to restore the tram connection between Libeň and Holešovice as quickly as possible and that trams could temporarily run even before the repair of the main bridge over the Vltava begins.[1][2][3]
TSK director Filip Hájek said that preparation of the other parts of the bridge complex is under way in parallel, with the aim of limiting delays between stages. The next step is to be a tender for a firm that will complete the documentation for the reconstruction of the remaining parts, including the main bridge over the Vltava; once a building permit is obtained, a tender for a construction company is to follow.[1][2][3]
Trams have not run over the Libeň Bridge since 11 January 2024, when operation was closed because of defects caused by severe frosts.[1]
Chronology
- — Prague's Technical Road Administration announced a separate tender for completing the unfinished part of the Libeňský most, which had to be mothballed after intervention by the Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže. Blesk.cz Pražský deník