Tartu looking for ways to proceed with Sõpruse Bridge renovations
The best bid for the renovation work on Tartu's Sõpruse Bridge was €6 million more than anticipated. As a result, Tartu City Government will need to decide in the coming weeks how to proceed with the bridge's renovation. There is a consensus however, that the bridge cannot be left as it is.
Following a call for tenders to renovate Tartu's Sõpruse Bridge, AS Tref was deemed to be the most suitable bidder. The company estimate the cost of the work to be €18.4 million. The amount quoted is nearly one and a half times higher than the city had originally earmarked for the reconstruction work.
According to Tartu Deputy Mayor Raimond Tamm, the discrepancy between the estimated cost of the bridge's reconstruction in the city's budget and the bids received in the tendering process, is due to errors at the design stage.
"There were some estimation errors concerning the amount of concrete work. But by the same token, the [cost of the] construction engineering solutions were also underestimated. The construction engineering part of renovating the bridge was estimated to be cheaper than it actually is," said Tamm.
Andrus Aaviste, CEO of Selekor Projekt OÜ, the company that designed the Sõpruse Bridge, initially offered to provide a comment on the city authorities' claims, but later declined to be interviewed by telephone. Aaviste has also so far not sent a written comment.
To continue with the reconstruction of the Sõpruse bridge, the city has two options. The first would be to allocate additional funds and sign the contract with AS Tref. A second option would be to modify the plans and focus only on renovating the bride itself, leaving the side streets in the city's Karlova district as they are.
"It is clear that the city's budgetary situation is not an easy one. Every million is an additional burden and a big burden. In this sense, it is a very thorough analysis that we have to do, including a review of the entire budget strategy including all the different projects. It's not just about the Sõpruse Bridge, but if we allocate additional funds for the Sõpruse Bridge, for example that will actually have a wider impact on the future of the city," Tamm said.
The city does not plan to give up on plans to renovate Sõpruse Bridge, as it is definitely in need of repairs.
While the plan was to begin renovation work on the bridge this year, if redesigning the project is deemed necessary that will no longer be possible. As a result, completion of the renovated bridge could be postponed until 2027.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Michael Cole
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
