<RSD> We build bridges cheaper and tunnels more expensively than in Germany </RSD>

Prague - Large highway bridges are being built in the Czech Republic 14 percent cheaper than in Germany, whereas a kilometer of a bored tunnel is 27 percent more expensive than with its western neighbors. This was stated yesterday by the director of the Road and Motorway Directorate (ŘSD), Alfred Brunclík, at the Žofín Forum. The ŘSD commissioned an analysis in response to media criticism that Czech highways are several times more expensive than German ones.
The analysis also shows that a kilometer of Czech highway is 17 percent cheaper than a kilometer of Austrian highway, but 20 percent more expensive than a kilometer of highway in Slovenia. "However, this result should be taken with caution," said Brunclík, who indicated that it is merely an attempt at a correct comparison. "Highway constructions cannot be objectively compared; we can only talk about objects," he explained why the analysis primarily compares bridges and tunnels.
The cost of highways reportedly includes other items that vary from state to state. This includes, for example, the repair of adjacent roads, the construction of noise barriers, or costs related to construction supervision. The Czech Republic has some of the strictest noise and environmental standards, so it is necessary to build, for example, green overpasses for wildlife.
Ecological and noise abatement measures account for about ten percent of the total cost of the highway, with another 15 percent attributed to construction supervision, land purchases, and related legal disputes.
Previous comparisons allegedly did not take into account, for example, VAT or construction time. The most glaring example pointed out by the media is the D8 highway from Prague to Ústí nad Labem. According to some reports, this highway was up to four times more expensive than a comparable section of Germany's A7 highway.
This was admitted yesterday by Brunclík. "The price is indeed four times higher, but the German highway was built in the early 1990s, so we are now dealing with completely different prices," he said of the section of the D8 highway that was opened at the end of 2006.
Instead of comparing with foreign countries, the ŘSD wants to develop a maximum price system for building highways. "We can say how much the highway could be built for, and there is definitely room for improvement," said Brunclík. The ŘSD wants to collaborate with experts from the Czech Technical University, for example.
In the Czech Republic, there are just under 1000 kilometers of highways and dual-carriageway roads. By around 2017, the number of kilometers is expected to double, thereby completing the Czech highway network. A kilometer of highway in flat country costs over 200 million crowns, while in mountainous areas, where there are tunnels and bridges, the price can soar to up to a billion crowns.
Besides highway prices, Brunclík also provided other interesting statistics at the Žofín Forum. For instance, Czech passenger car drivers cover over two billion kilometers per day. "That means a distance twelve times to the Sun," compared Brunclík. More significantly, the proportion of freight transported by road in total freight transported in the Czech Republic has risen from 23 percent in 1989 to the current 72 percent.