The Government and “Motorways of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH)” (Autoceste FBiH) are not giving up on the Hranjen tunnel construction project, which provoked various comments in the BiH public after the information that about 70 million BAM, planned for breaking through the entire tunnel, the total length of 5.5 kilometers, was spent on the excavation of just over two kilometers, Avaz writes.
Company signed an annex
According to “Motorways of the FBiH”, the problem was due to the difference between the planned and actual geological conditions of the terrain, so this led to a difference between the contracted and realized length of excavation and construction of the primary support.
According to the director Elmedin Voloder, in the past period, the contractor repaired part of the omissions, so the situation regarding the quality of the performed works is much better.
”In February this year, “Motorways of the FBiH” signed an annex to the contract with the contractor with the aim of completing works on the excavated part of the tunnel so far and without additional funding. The new deadline for eliminating the shortcomings is June 30th,” Voloder stated.
He adds that the construction of the Hranjen tunnel, the most important facility on the strategic route Sarajevo – Gorazde, must be completed.
New prices
The FBiH government has provided 35 million BAM in this year’s budget to continue work, which could be enough to build a kilometer of the tunnel.
”For this part of the funds, “Motorways of the FBiH” have prepared project documentation for announcing a new tender, which should be published in the next ten days. The estimated value of the works on the completion of the tunnel now exceeds the amount of 200 million BAM, especially after the prices of materials have increased significantly, and continued to grow since the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine. For the missing funds, “Motorways of the FBiH” is preparing the necessary documentation for credit borrowing so that the project can be fully completed,” Voloder added.
New deadlines
Furthermore, Voloder pointed out that the funds provided in the first phase should have been enough only for the excavation of the tunnel and the construction of the primary support, and for other works they were never available.
E.Dz.