Four big consortiums are due next month to begin calculating bids for the estimated $1.9 billion of tunneling work on the next 15.5-kilometer underground extension of Denmark’s Copenhagen metro, the Cityringen line. As arbitrators continue grappling with $385 million in claims for extra payment over the system’s seven-year-old first phase, Copenhagen officials plan to start work on Cityringen by next summer. By bidding construction of Cityringen’s 17 stations separately from the tunneling work, project owner Metroselskabet hopes to avoid the sort of dispute that reportedly impeded progress on early phases, says procurement project manager Jens Gravgaard.
Metroselskabet next month will invite four consortiums to submit design-build bids for two tunneling contracts, setting a spring 2010 submission deadline. As with the metro’s first phase, the owner has opted for design-build, says Gravgaard. However, “We still want to maintain full control of everything that faces the passenger,” he adds.