Four groups set to race for Bosphorus bridge tender

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A small group of people demonstrate in front of Turkey’s Highway Authority in Ankara on April 20 protesting the plan to build a third bridge over Istanbul’s Bosphorus.

Five firms of the 11 firms that had received authorization said they would participate in the April 20 tender for the “Northern Marmara Highway Project,” which includes the third Bosphorus bridge. The actual tender will be scheduled at a later date. 

“We have received five bids and will examine these for missing documents. Afterward, we will send an invitation to the firms in the coming days to submit their price bids,” said Tender Commission President İhsan Akbıyık. Those firms that are missing the proper documentation will be excluded from the tender. 

The five firms and consortia which submitted bids are the following: Mapa İnşaat, Yapı Merkezi-Doğuş İnşaat-China Communication Corporation-Arkon Yapı Joint Venture, Cengiz İnşaat-Limak-Makyol-Kalyon Joint Venture, Salini-Gülermak Joint Venture, Astaldi İçtaş Joint Venture. Mapa is the only company that submitted a solo bid. 

The project, worth $5 billion, will connect Turkey’s Adapazarı and Tekirdağ regions with a 414-kilometer highway including the third Bosphorus bridge. 

The first tender for the Northern Marmara Highway Project took place on March 9, 2011. The first date to receive applications had been set as Aug. 23, but was then delayed to Nov. 22 and Jan. 10. At that juncture, certain firms asked for a three-month or six-month delay. There were no applications in the Jan. 10 tender.