H. Králové has progressed with the fourth tender for the construction of the footbridge over the Elbe

Hradec Králové - The representatives of Hradec Králové today approved the terms of reference for the fourth competition for the construction of a footbridge over the Elbe in the area of the congress center Aldis. The tender could be announced by mid-year. The town hall has been preparing the construction of the footbridge since 2003. The last tender was canceled by the city due to a high price. At the same time, the representatives approved that in 2021, 117 million crowns should be allocated in the city budget for the construction.

"Although this is already the fourth competition, we would be reluctant to abandon this project. In previous cases, we were complicated by excessively high price offers, which we want to avoid now, so we decided not to disclose the anticipated price for now,” said Mayor Alexandr Hrabálek (ODS). The only criterion for evaluating the competition will be price.

The construction of the footbridge is closely related to the construction of the regional headquarters of Československá obchodní banka, which has been rising in the Aldis area since 2018. The city committed to build the footbridge by this April under contract with ČSOB, under the penalty of 15 million crowns, which did not happen. However, the town hall averted the threat of a fine when it agreed with the bank to extend the deadline by more than three years.

A fundamental condition for announcing the tender and starting construction is that the town hall obtains a change of permit for the construction of the footbridge from the building authority by the end of this May. If the city does not obtain approval for changes from the authorities, it would abandon the current project and start preparing for construction from the beginning with a new zoning decision. The company selected for the construction of the footbridge will be able to start work on the site only in the autumn of 2021, after the builders complete work on the ČSOB building.

However, for the bank to continue with the construction of its headquarters, the city must demolish one of the two terraces on the banks of the Elbe near the Aldis center this year. Originally, the terraces were to be demolished only with the construction of the footbridge. The city has already selected a company for the demolition of the terrace for 3.4 million crowns without VAT. The demolition should be completed by mid-August.

In the last tender, the only interested party offered the footbridge for the price of 142 million crowns without VAT. The second tender was also canceled due to a high price, and no one applied in the first. The city initially estimated the construction cost to be around 48 million crowns without VAT. A majority will be covered by subsidies. A peculiarity of the proposed footbridge is that it is to be built using an uncommon technology with special high-strength concrete.