TENDER FOR MEGA-BRIDGE AWARDED

THE SA NATIONAL Roads Agency (Sanral) announced yesterday the awarding of the R1.65 billion tender for the second of two mega-bridges as part of the N2 Wild Coast project. This comes after Sanral announced in July last year that the tender award had to be re-advertised as it had received no fully responsive tenders for the initial bid. The tender was re-advertised on November 3, 2017, and closed on April 11. The long period was required due to the size and complexity of the tender. Sanral said the 580-metre bridge would be built near Lusikisiki over the Msikaba gorge. Construction is due to start in February and run for 33 months after an initial three-month ramp-up period starting next month. The total contract amount is approximately R1.65bn, excluding VAT. The nearby Mtentu river bridge started construction in January and both form part of the new N2 Wild Coast Road. Sanral said the successful bidder was Concor Mota-Engil Joint Venture, a strategic partnership between Concor (a large and majority black-owned South African civil engineering company) and Mota-Engil, a major international construction firm. – African News Agency (ANA)