Prime contractor for Strait of Messina Bridge

Decision awaited on prime contractor for Strait of Messina Bridge.

Two offers in response to what has been described as the greatest construction tender ever issued in Italy are currently under consideration by the independent committee established to evaluate the bids and make recommendations to the board of Stretto di Messina S.p.A.

The company's cost estimate is based on a 2002 figure of 4.6 billion Euros.

The bridge, spanning more than 3.5 km, is one of Europe's 18 infrastructure projects of the highest strategic importance.

A tender without precedent, was how Pietro Ciucci, chief executive of the Strait of Messina Bridge concessionaire described the situation when in May he announced that two of the three groups who prequalified had got their bids in by the revised deadline set for 2005-05-25.

The contractors were given six months to prepare their tenders from last October but the period was extended by a further month.

The company intends to appoint a prime contractor to take responsibility for the whole of the works entailed in the project and its connections with the Italian motorway and railway system.

This huge infrastructure project is an ambitious plan to transform economic prospects in the underdeveloped southern regions of Italy.

It is being carried out under the terms of a framework agreement between the Italian Government, the regions of Calabria and Sicily, the national railway corporation Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the autostrade concessionaire ANAS and Stretto di Messina S.p.A.

If built the Strait of Messina bridge will have the longest suspended central span in the world.

The design on which the bridge is based envisages a central suspended span of 3,300 m and an overall length of 3,665 m.

The intention is to locate high speed railway tracks in the lateral centre of the deck, flanked by three-lane highways extendable to four lanes should traffic growth warrant.

International support for Italian consortia.

When the bids came in, one consortium led by Astaldi and the other by Impregilo, Mr Ciucci and his colleagues were delighted to find that Italy's largest construction companies had joined forces as he put it with the best companies from the rest of the world.

Despite prequalification the consortium of German, French, Spanish and Italian contractors led by Strabag A.G.

failed to return a bid.

The make-up of the two groups whose tenders are now being evaluated is as follows: Astaldi working in association with Ferrovial Agroman, Maire Engineering, Ghella, Vianini Lavori and Grandi Lavori Fincosit.

Astaldi says that if its bid is successful, Nippon Steel Corporation and Consorzio Cooperative Costruzioni will be technical operating partners with the project company created to carry out the works.

Impregilo is in association with Sacyr, Societa Italiana per Condotte d'Acqua, Cooperativa Muratori a Cementisti-CMC di Ravenna, Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries, and ACI - Consorzio Stabile.

The client company says it is fully committed to maximum transparency for the evaluation procedure and 'par condicio' (equal treatment) for all competitors.

The independent judging committee appointed to decide on the main contract award is chaired by Renata Laschena, President Emeritus of Italy's Council of State, and comprises the following membership: Giuseppe Fiammenghi, Stretto di Messina's engineering director; Ian Firth of Flint and Neill, specialist in long span structures; Niels J.

Gimsing, structural engineering professor at Denmark's Technical University; Francesco Karrer, professor of urban planning at the University of Rome; Andrea Sandulli, Stretto di Messina's legal and corporate affairs manager; William van Impe, professor at the Ghent State University in Belgium and director of its soil mechanics laboratory.

The bids were made public in Messina on 2005-06-13, the day on which the award committee's evaluation process formally commenced.

The remit is to examine the bids according to the criteria set out in the tender documentation and advise the board on the most satisfactory resolution of construction issues.

Plainly this is a process that will take time.

The search is also on for appointment of a project manager.

This in common with the procedure for inviting construction bids began with a prequalification phase.

Seven firms were nominated to bid by a selection committee presided over by Alberto Berruti, Honorary President of the Council of State.

In alphabetical order the firms are: Atkins; Bechtel International; an association of Italian companies led by Italferr; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Parsons Transportation Group; Snamprogetti with Technip Italy; Systra with Technital.

The deadline was set for 2005-09-06 but subsequently extended to 2005-09-30.

The value of the consultancy work involved is provisionally estimated at some 150 million Euros.

Bids for the environmental monitoring contract have also to be returned by 2005-09-08.

Chief executive Pietro Ciucci, commenting on the significance of this appointment, again expressed the satisfaction of the Stretto di Messina board when he said that the response to the invitation to tender for the project management commission had involved 14 international companies of the highest calibre.

The decision to make such an appointment for oversight of design and construction he said was regarded as most important from the standpoint of overall project strategy.

The aim is to ensure that all management and technical issues are thoroughly checked and monitored for compliance with the construction schedule, quality standards and projected costs.

Links with mainland roads and railways.

The Strait of Messina crossing is a big enough project in itself but the framework agreement settled with the Italian Government provides for substantial improvements to the mainland roads network connecting the bridge to the Salerno - Reggio di Calabria motorway.

The Autostrade concessionaire ANAS has undertaken to build an alternative route to the existing A3 motorway partly in tunnel to create a direct link with the bridge approaches on the mainland side.

This requires construction of some 10 km of new highway to improve traffic flows in the area and at the same time divert heavy traffic presently causing severe environmental problems for the town of Villa San Giovanni, a popular resort at the toe of Italy opposite Messina.

Existing service areas at Villa San Giovanni will be relocated to release construction sites for the bridge.

Associated roadworks are planned to connect the entrance and exit ramps at the bridge directly with the A3.

Major railway developments are to be carried out by RTE.

There are plans to build an alternative route at the southern end of the Tyrrhenian railway which runs along the west coast of Italy and for completion of the partly-built Battipaglia-Reggio di Calabria high speed line.

Within the municipality of Messina complementary works are being put in hand with the aim of improving the internal transport system in Sicily, where it is intended eventually to bring the high speed rail service into the city of Palermo.

Construction of the bridge will it is understood be financed wholly from private resources, but the major road and rail improvements agreed upon as part of the overall scheme to uplift the economy of Southern Italy will require substantial funding input from the transport authorities concerned.

Initial finance for bridge construction is to be raised by expansion of Stretto di Messina's equity to some 2.5 billion Euros.

The remainder would be found by bonds guaranteed on cash flow from the project's operations.

The economic benefit of the construction phase in itself is assessed at around 6 billion Euros, which the company points out is greater than the anticipated amount of the investment required.

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