Adif washes its hands of the awarding of one of its largest works in recent years, in whose tender for 621 million euros (VAT included) the technical offer submitted by the consortium headed by Ferrovial came first. The railway infrastructure manager has hired Geocontrol engineering to analyze and assess the economic offers submitted to the tender to bury the R2 commuter line in Barcelona as it passes through the Catalan municipality of Montcada i Reixac, which were declared “reckless removal”. . Once this report is received, the Adif contracting table will finally decide the award.
Four consortiums are presenting to this contest. The first is made up of Ferrovial, Comsa and FCC, which offered a budget of 446.6 million (excluding VAT) on a base budget set by Adif at 513.3 million (excluding VAT), and obtained a technical score of 47.98. points, the highest; the second consortium is Vías y Construcciones, Copisa, Azvi and Ingeniería y Servicios, which offered to carry out the work for 427.2 million, although its technical score fell to 37.86 points; The third proposal was presented by the Temporary Business Union (UTE) of Dragados (ACS), Copcisa, Tecsa, Acsa (Sorigué) and San José, with a budget of 420.9 million and whose technical score deserved 43.46 points. ; and the last that of the UTE of OHLA, Sacyr, Acciona and Rubau, with 418.3 million and a technical score of 47.64 points.
Geocontrol’s mission now is to assess whether the reductions in economic proposals abnormally below the bidding price of the different consortiums do not respond to a reckless reduction but are justified by real cost savings. In the event that this justification does not exist, the proposal led by Ferrovial would win the contest, having obtained the highest technical score. In reality, once the two bids with the lowest technical scores have been ruled out, the only one that could wrest the work from Ferrovial would be the one headed by OHLA, for which they must convince the consultant that their financial reduction is justified.
The measure of deriving a large part of the final responsibility for the award of the contract to an external consultant is not the usual procedure, but Adif justifies the decision based on the “unprecedented” investment volume of the contract, “the diversity of actions and its technical complexity and constructive” of the project, according to what he said this Monday in a statement. Adif adds that Geocontrol treasures “deep technical knowledge in projects and construction, construction procedures and yields of each activity of a work plan”, to which it adds the factor of being the engineer that drafted the burial construction project. This makes it “knowledgeable of its technical characteristics, the construction procedures considered and the human and material resources to meet the deadlines derived from the work plan incorporated into the project”, so that its analysis “will serve as support and complete the analysis carried out by the teams Adif technicians”.
Adif points out that, like all public contracts under its management, “the selection of the successful bidder for the work, as in all the company’s bidding and award processes, will be based on the principles of objectivity and transparency and on objective award criteria , based on the best value for money, included in the governing documents of the tender”.
controversial contract
The contract caused a stir because it came just after the company chaired by Rafael del Pino announced the transfer of its fiscal headquarters to the Netherlands, which sparked criticism from the Government. Some members of Unidas Podemos even asked that the administrations veto Ferrovial in public tenders.
The winner of the competition will be in charge of carrying out the work to integrate the Rodalies Barcelona line R2 as it passes through the urban area of Montcada i Reixac, as well as the construction of a new station. The work includes the construction of a four-kilometre-long tunnel that will house three tracks, made up of a structure based on concrete screens that will save a natural aquifer. Subsequently, a tunnel will be excavated 35 meters deep, to later return to the surface with a model for the construction of screens, under the current layout.
The burial of Montcada has been involved in a great controversy due to its high cost and the more than 200 people who have died run over by trains when improperly crossing the different level crossings. The Ministry of Transport’s plans aim to “promote the permeability of the railway infrastructure of the Barcelona-Portbou line between the two sectors of the urban fabric, by eliminating the current surface layout”.
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