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.

DBR Metro Project Directorate will pay the claim of BAMCO Consortium without prejudice to the eventual verdict of the arbitration court. (BAMCO Consortium suspended the works the few days ago.) It means that the sum of € 13 million (approximately HUF 3 billion) will be paid to the BAMCO Consortium, but the DBR will refer the case to the arbitration court; if the amount to be awarded by the court is lower, the balance may be withdrawn. As the result of the agreement of the parties the Consortium will gradually resume working in the next couple of days with the exception of work phases that cannot be resumed due to the lack of construction license, such as the crossover tunnel at Gellért Square. Due to the lack of license for the latter works the Consortium was forced to suspend temporarily the works. The DBR will provide all the professional assistance required by BAMCO to obtain, as soon as possible, the licenses of authorities. The applications for such licenses have been returned so far with a request to fill up gaps.
In a few days time Hídépítő will submit to the National Transport Authority the application for license for the modification of platform tunnels at the Fővám Square station, which, implies the modification of the entire station structure. The approval will be granted in December the latest. The solution including the protective structure under the riverbed of Danube above the future tunnel preferred earlier by the DBR is amalgamated with the modified method including the shifting by twenty meters towards the Kálvin Square of the platform tunnel so that instead of the earlier forty meters it protrudes into the riverbed of the Danube by twenty meters. Based on the results of comprehensive and in-depth soil surveys the station may be ready to receive the TBMs as early as March next year if built in this manner. This solution does not preclude the use of the so-called freezing technology provided it is required. Otherwise in the DBR’s view this preferred supplementary procedure is included in the contractual obligations of the contractor.
Since months the experts have been fine-tuning the implementation schedule to overcome the difficulties encountered and the harmonized schedule is hoped to be ready for demonstration through the restart of the TBMs in the couple of weeks. This schedule will already provide answers whether or not the difficulties encountered impact the completion deadline of Phase I. This is the particularly important issue because in the meanwhile the Railway Authority has granted the license for Phase II.
DBR Metro Project Directorate