State Road D-403 and AGCT Dredging: construction contracts signed
On 18 June 2020, in the presence of Oleg Butković, Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia, two significant contracts for the development of the Port of Rijeka were signed worth HRK 554 million, co-financed by non-refundable European funds. These are the contracts for the construction of the state road DC403 connecting the Škurinje junction to the port of Rijeka and the contract for the execution of works on the dredging of the Adriatic Gate container terminal.
As part of the program that started at 10 am at the newly built Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal, a contract was signed for the project of construction of the state road DC403 from Škurinje junction to the port of Rijeka. The signatories were Josip Škorić, President of Hrvatske ceste L.t.d. and Kristjan Mugerli on behalf of the Association of Contractors (Kolektor CPG from Slovenia, GP Krk from Croatia and EURO-ASFALT from Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the Contract for the project “Upgrade of the Rijeka Port infrastructure-AGCT dredging (POR2CORE-AGCT dredging ) worth HRK 78,170,856.22 + VAT (HRK 97,713,570.27) signed by Denis Vukorepa, Director of the Port of Rijeka Authority and Orianna Boscolo Contadin, Member of the Management Board, NUOVA CO.ED.MAR Srl
The first signed contract for the DC403 state road construction project will realize the new DC403 road, from the Škurinje junction on the Rijeka bypass to the new Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal in the port of Rijeka in the length of 2977 meters, with 380 meters of access road. On that road are the 1.2-kilometer-long Podmurvice tunnel, the Piopi viaduct with 316 meters, the Mlaka viaduct with 144 meters and the underpass with a length of 56 meters. The works are 85% co-financed by non-refundable EU funds, and in two and a half years the D403 road will directly connect the port of Rijeka with the bypass and strengthen the Rijeka traffic route. Grant agreements for EU funds were signed in November 2018, and the tender for contractors was announced in December last year.
Minister Oleg Butković pointed out that currently active investment projects worth 1.3 billion kuna in the Rijeka area, were mostly investments in port infrastructure. The state road 403, although only 3.5 kilometers long, would be worth as much as 70 million euros. It would built the function of the Zagreb pier, but with the connection to Zvonimirova Street in Rijeka, it will solve the traffic problem of the western entrance to the city. After the Peljesac Bridge, this is the largest infrastructure investment in Croatia, Butkovic said, adding that an investment cycle in transport infrastructure worth more than 20 billion kuna is underway.
The Mayor of the City of Rijeka Vojko Obersnel added that after the construction of D403, along the eastern exit via D404, the eastern and western access to the city center would be solved in the best way, and added that works on the railway to Zagreb pier still remain.
The Executive director of Hrvatske ceste, Josip Škorić, announced that 456 million kuna worth of work on the construction of D403 will be performed by a domestic consortium that brought together three companies: Kolektor, GP Krk and Euroasfalt. The construction deadline is 2.5 years, and the start is expected in a month. “The road will go through densely populated karst terrain, so we are counting on the patience of the people of Rijeka during the construction”, said Škorić.
The second signed contract for works on the project “Upgrade of the Rijeka Port infrastructure- AGCT dredging” (POR2CORE-AGCT dredging) includes works on deepening the seabed in the length of 100 m along the quay of the southern berth which will level the depth of the sea along Kostrensko pier South of 428 m at the container terminal Jadranska vrata. The project was approved in September 2018, and its total value is estimated at 17,389,436.00 EUR, with a share co-financed by EU grants of 20% in the independent implementation of the Port of Rijeka Authority.
The executive director of thePort of Rijeka Authority Denis Vukorepa announced that he expects 3.4 billion kuna of investment in the Zagreb Deep Sea container terminal in the next five years, and the additional deepening of 430 meters of Kostrena pier at the Adriatic Gate container terminal to a depth of 16 and a half meters will enable container acceptance of the ext-generation ships, which will accelerate the flow of goods between Asia and Europe.
On behalf of the concessionaire Jadranska vrata d.d., the beneficiary of this project, Emmanuel Papagiannakis, Executive Director of AGCT explained that “the dredging of the Kostrensko pier of the container terminal at Adriatic Gate in the length of 100 meters is crucial for the business of Adriatic Gate j.s.c. (AGCT) as we have witnessed an increase in the size of container ships berthing in the port of Rijeka in recent years. “- he said, adding:” In order for container ships to continue to berth efficiently, and for Rijeka to maintain Gateway’s position in the North Adriatic, it is necessary to ensure sufficient draft as a basic precondition for maintaining overseas services. ”
The project “Upgrade of the Rijeka Port infrastructure- AGCT dredging” (POR2CORE-AGCT dredging) is part of a large investment cycle of the Port of Rijeka Authority, one of seven large infrastructure development projects for which co-financing from the Connecting European Facility (CEF) has been provided, and which is being implemented by the Port of Rijeka Authority with partners or independently. The projects relate to the modernization and construction of railway infrastructure in the port, construction of new intermodal capacities, reconstruction and modernization of port terminals, and they are in progress in almost all port basins and will all be completed by 2023. The total value of this investment cycle for which co-financing from the Connecting European Facility (CEF) has been secured is estimated at a total of EUR 132,865,303.00.