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SOUTH TBM OF METRO 4 DEPARTED ALSO -BUDA SIDE TUNNEL BUILDING NEARING ITS END
On 26th January 2009 the south tunnel boring machine (TBM) of metro 4 has departed also towards Szent Gellért Square, to where its north pair arrived a week ago. Once internal walls of the station and its linking platform tunnels are finished, they may be pushed into the Danube side station by the Contractor in the second half of February according to the plans.
Tunnel building BAMCO consortium in hand with the consent from the National Transport Authority (NTA) obtained at the middle of last December launched the north TBM at the beginning of January – with respect to the Holiday season – and by the middle of the month reached the platform tunnel linking to Szent Gellért station. Following this could the south TBM begin to build the last section of Buda side along the railway connecting tunnel length, which earlier evoke dispute over its building method, but now approved and being built with subsequent enlargement.
THE DBR STEPS UP THE INTENSITY OF THE COVERAGE OF THE METRO PROJECT FOR THE EU AND FOR THE RESIDENTS
Information of the EU on the project of the 4th line of the metro was also on the agenda of the today’s session of the Mayor’s Cabinet. The objective is to provide the decision makers in Brussels with accurate background information along with the financial and technical documentation of the application for grant. This information should cover the development plans, transport concept and individual projects of the Hungarian capital. The budget allocated by the DBR through the internal regrouping of expenses for multi-language publications, exhibitions in Brussels and Budapest and various professional conferences amounts to HUF 80 million, therefore this decision generates no excess costs.
THE SELECTION OF THE INDEPENDENT CONTROL ENGINEER IS IN PROGRESS
The DBR Metro Project Directorate maintains the view that the contractors of the 4th line of the metro may exclusively work under the guarantee of highest standards of safety and legality. By the stipulations of the contract concluded by and between the Metropolitan Municipality and the BKV Private Ltd. on investor’s tasks in Stage I of the project of the 4th line of the metro, BKV is liable to select, with the agreement of the Metropolitan Municipality, an independent control engineer to monitor project implementation and compliance with the investor’s decisions. This also figures among the specifications of the loan agreement between the Metropolitan Municipality and the European Investment Bank. The selection and specification of tasks of the independent control engineer under the financing terms modified to meet the conditions of bidding for the EU grant is currently underway.
THE DBR HAS BEEN COOPERATING WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PHISICALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE FROM THE START OF THE PROJECT
The 4th line of the metropolitan will be truly obstacle-free because it must conform to the related EU specifications. On February 22nd 2008 the DBR Metro Project Directorate signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Physically Handicapped Residents of Budapest (MBE) to promote the forwarding of views and opinions of future handicapped passengers to the responsible experts of metro construction. This memorandum formalizes and tightens an existing relationship, because the competent specialists of the metro project invited the experts of physically handicapped residents to participate in the design of the metro.
THE EXPERT REPORT FORMING THE BASIS OF THE NEW IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE OF THE 4TH LINE OF THE METRO IS COMPLETED
THE END OF 2011 IS A REALISTIC EXPECTATION AS A DEADLINE OF COMPLETION OF TRIAL RUNS
The DBR Metro Project Directorate procured the preparation of the new realistic implementation schedule of the 4th line of the metro project in the light of engineering difficulties of the past months. According to this report counting on several months of delay accumulated in connection with the construction of the tunnel, the Fővám Square and Gellért Square stations the completion of the four month trial run by the end of year 2011 and the final deadline of handover of the metro line for passenger traffic are feasible, as declared earlier by the officials of the Metropolitan Municipality.
THE BAMCO CONSORTIUM IS TRYING TO PUT ON PRESSURE BY THREATS
In a letter addressed to the DBR Metro Project Directorate the tunnel builder BAMCO Consortium declared that it would temporarily suspend all works until its claims for the reimbursement of excess costs are fulfilled by the Investor. Following its earlier practice, the DBR will also cover henceforth all the legitimate claims for excess works that became necessary for reasons not imputable to the Contractor, but DBR will only accept legitimate and justified claims despite the ultimata. The Contractor shall carry responsibility for all legal and material consequences of unjustified stand-down.
LEAVE YOUR HANDPRINT ON THE BOARDING FENCE AT THE MÓRICZ ZSIGMOND CIRCUS TOO!
At the beginning of September the DBR Metro Project Directorate held a highly successful two-day event at the construction site of the Keleti Railway Terminus metro station. Nearly the thousand volunteers left their green handprints on the boarding fence of the construction site of the 4th line of the metro. Today, on October 17th, the Directorate will repeat this successful event at the new site.
NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY AND THE DBR IN THE MATTER OF THE „CH” BUILDING
The experts of the DBR Metro Project Directorate, the Engineer, the contractor, the representatives of the Consortium recording the building displacements, and also independent experts agreed today that the structural stability of Building „CH” of the Technical University is currently not under risk. The decision taken this morning is also about the acceleration of recovery of damages caused by metro construction, speeding up of remaining works on the St. Gellért Square metro station and intensification of monitoring of the condition of buildings.
THE METRO CONTRUCTION DOES NOT JEOPARDIZE BUILDING „CH” OF THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY
The settlement of Building „CH” of the Technical University is lower than the threshold value expected by the experts based on the preliminary surveys. This statement has been confirmed by joint site visits of the parties carried out regularly since the start of the construction works. Settlement is the natural concomitant of civil engineering works carried out in the vicinity of old buildings and structures. In the case of the Technical University settlement has been reducing since the completion of work phases that impacted the building concerned, and subsidence has stabilized by now.
THE BAMCO CONSORTIUM RESUMES WORKS; THE ISSUE OF THE FŐVÁM SQUARE STATION IS SETTLED
Having reached a provisional agreement between the DBR Metro Project Directorate and the contractor, BAMCO Consortium gradually resumes working starting from the beginning of this week. The situation regarding the Fővám Square station will soon be settled, too; Hídépítő is about to submit the application for the modification of the construction license of the station. Along with the solution of the two technical difficulties the railway authority license for the second section of the 4th line of the metro has been granted.