The construction of the new Praia de Faro bridge is a long running ambition of the municipality, with several years of advances and setbacks.
After the first three tenders came to an end without any bidder, the Municipality of Faro has finally signed the document consigning the work of the new access bridge to Praia de Faro, a project that will begin “soon” and whose execution period is 18 months, the municipality have announced.
In a statement, the municipality states that the work will represent a total cost of more than 6.6 million euros, a 1.5 million increase on the bid initially awarded.
According to the municipality, the extraordinary price increase, approved by the municipal assembly at the end of July, is “to respond to the exceptional situation that caused abrupt increases in the prices of raw materials, materials and labour, with impact on the construction and on the costs of the works foreseen in this contract”.
“The work, with an execution period of 540 days (18 months), should start soon and foresees the construction of a new access bridge to Praia de Faro, which will replace the current one and will be located in a parallel route to the east of it”, reads the statement. The structure will cover a distance of about 180 metres, with an 11 metre wide deck.
The municipality adds that the new structure will be at a distance that “causes, among other factors, the need to carry out the demolition work of the current bridge, but after the completion and entry into operation of the new bridge. new
The new deck will have two lanes for car circulation, also allowing public transport access to Praia de Faro, and two pedestrian walkways, one of them with a width that allows for pedestrian and cycling circulation.
The construction of the new Praia de Faro bridge is an old ambition of the municipality, with several years of advances and setbacks, after the first three tenders for its award came to an end without any competitor.
In March 2021, the Municipality of Faro announced that the fourth tender had ended with four applications and, after selecting one of the competitors (the consortium formed by the companies Extraco – Construccións e Proxectos, Sociedade Anónima – Sucursal em Portugal and Misturas Obras et Proxectos, SA), the works were due to start by the end of that year.
This deadline was then affected by the need to review costs and approve the additional EUR 1.5 million needed to respond to increases caused by the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine.
