Prague postponed the opening of the Blanka tunnel scheduled for April

Prague - Prague has once again postponed the opening date of the Blanka tunnel. They must replace a larger number of damaged security cables. The new opening date is not known. This was stated to journalists today by Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek (ČSSD). The cables were damaged by torrential rains and the humid environment of the tunnel, which the billion-dollar contracts with the technology supplier did not anticipate. How long the work will take, how many cables will need to be replaced, and how much it will cost, neither the city nor the supplier can say. The Blanka tunnel, which is an important part of Prague's inner ring road, will cost approximately 37 billion crowns.
    "The cables that were exposed to water are not operational and need to be replaced," Dolínek said after today's inspection of the construction site. Later today, a meeting with insurance companies will take place, and on Friday, full-fledged discussions will commence with the construction company Metrostav, the technology supplier, ČKD Praha DIZ, and the construction manager, Inženýring dopravních staveb (IDS). According to the deputy, Prague should know the solution to the situation within hours.
    When asked how many cables need to be replaced, the city currently does not have a precise answer. "Originally, it was counted with some parts of the cables, now it looks like entire strands of large sections," he said. It is said to involve tens of millions of crowns. However, according to sources from ČTK, the costs could escalate into hundreds of millions. It is unclear who will pay for the replacement. The deputy did not rule out the possibility that the city might opt for better and more durable cables during a potential replacement.
    According to the supplier, it was anticipated that the cables would be in a dry environment. "The environment for the installation of the technology during construction was not in accordance with the tender documentation and the contract for work. The Blanka tunnel is designed as dry, or primarily dry. The project therefore counts on the installation of cables in a dry environment, which corresponds to the specification of the cables, their insulation, and fire-resistant values," informed Karel Samec, a media representative of ČKD Praha DIZ, to ČTK. According to him, the company has been warning about the problems with the cables for several months.
    Today's "heated" debate with representatives of ČKD Praha DIZ revolved, among other things, around whether technicians installed the cables in a completely dry environment or whether some of them were placed in the tunnel only after the flood in the summer of 2013. At that time, the construction was not yet completed, the external insulation layer was missing covers, and so much torrential water got into the tunnel that it created a water level that needed to be pumped out and dried. According to him, ČKD Praha DIZ also claims that leaks in the tunnel appeared even before the flood. However, Dolínek denies this, relying on the designer's guarantee. "We are prepared to document this," he added.
    ČKD Praha DIZ, according to Samec, offered Prague three options on how to proceed with the replacement of damaged cables. "At the moment, it is therefore not possible to specify the time or financial demands of this replacement," stated Samec. According to him, however, a dry environment must be ensured for the new cables.
    Dolínek urged the supplier to prepare a new schedule indicating when the tunnel is to be completed and to set a date for opening. Originally, the firms were supposed to hand over the project on February 21. "The contractors failed to meet the schedule they set for themselves," claims Dolínek. According to some information from ČTK, there are no deadlines for completing the work set in the contracts between Prague and the suppliers.
    The construction of the Blanka tunnel, which was commissioned by the former political establishment under the leadership of Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS), has been plagued by a number of problems. The city has postponed the opening date multiple times, originally set for 2011. Over the years, the project has become at least six billion crowns more expensive. An arbitration court has dealt with disputes between Prague and Metrostav over billion-crown amounts. The litigation with the construction manager, Inženýring dopravních staveb (IDS), is ongoing.