OPERATION SUPERVISION PHASE OF THE ARTXANDA TUNNELS

Area of activity
TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURES

Service
Roads and highways

Client
Provincial Council of Bizkaia

Scope

• Consulting and technical assistance for the drafting of the specifications.
• Review of the concessionaire’s technical documentation
• Technical assistance for the comparison of technical offers
• Supervision of safety systems
• Technical assistance for the supervision of the operation phase

Duration
1998-2008

The Artxanda Tunnels constitute a road system of three axes that form a triangle. Two of them, La Salve-Txorierri and Ugasko-Txorierri (toll) connect the center of Bilbao with the N-637 highway (Txorierri corridor), facilitating access to Bilbao airport and the municipalities on the right bank of the Nervión estuary. The third, Ugasko-La Salve, serves as a bypass to the urban area of Bilbao between the districts of Begoña and Deusto.

The concession contract for the Artxanda Tunnels regulates, in accordance with the Provincial Decree of award and regulation, the relations between the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the concessionary company during the different phases of the contract: project, construction and operation.

In addition to providing support in the preparation of the Technical Specifications for the tender for the construction, maintenance and operation of the Artxanda tunnel, the purpose of the assistance has been to provide technical advice to the Provincial Council of Bizkaia in the supervision of the concessionaire company’s compliance with its obligations. In relation to the technical and economic-financial aspects of operation and maintenance.

Within the advisory services provided in this contract, the supervision of the review of the Economic and Financial Plan and the Commercial Promotion Plan of the concessionaire can be highlighted. In addition, a continuous control of the subcontracting and inter-group contracting cases subscribed by the concessionaire has been carried out: analysis of their effects on the obligations assumed by virtue of the Concession Contract.

Also the supervision of the periodic review that the concessionaire must carry out of the Traffic Management Plan, the periodic review that the concessionaire must carry out of the Safety, Surveillance and Control Plan and of the Integral Maintenance Plan and the works conservation program.

On the other hand, the continuous supervision of the operation of the facilities, the analysis of the status and updating of the bonds required by the Concession, the analysis of the continuous adaptation over time of the catastrophic risk and civil liability policies to the requirements of the Tender and the supervision and proposal regarding any other document that needed to be revised related to both the construction and operation phases.

In addition, a systematic follow-up and proposal of the corresponding actions has been carried out, based on the on-site verification of the state of service provision, performing the necessary analyses, verifications and interviews, as well as supervision of the documentation that the concessionaire must deliver periodically.