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- The railway company BLS is thinning the renovation of the Lötschberg-Scheitel tunnel of more than one hundred years.
- A 1.3-kilometer-long double lane is not being renovated as planned.
- Therefore, the BLS pays the construction company only 130 million francs instead of the 157 million francs required.
- However, the renovation costs a total of 40 million francs more than expected.
The background to this measure is a dispute between BLS and the contracted construction company. In mid-October it became known that the working group (ARGE) Martí is demanding a significantly higher amount of money than expected. The reason you cited higher amounts of excavation and concrete. Instead of the 89 million CHF originally agreed, Martí requested 157 million CHF.
“That’s a top requirement of the company,” said Daniel Wyder, Head of Infrastructure at BLS at the time. The railway company will not accept this request. Both parties interpreted the employment contract differently.
Oral agreement
Now the BLS and the working group (ARGE) Martí have reached a verbal agreement, as the railway company announced this Friday.
BLS wants to pay ARGE Martí 130 million francs for the renovation of the highway. To do this, ARGE Martí will equip the double track tunnel with a new concrete road just 1.3 kilometers from the southern portal of the tunnel.
40 million additional costs
The total costs of BLS, including internal costs, fees and security costs, are CHF 145 million instead of CHF 105 million. The BLS intends to leave the remaining 1.3 kilometers of dual lane in front of the south portal in place for now.
The change to the renovation project in Lötschberg-Scheiteltunnel requires a change in the planning permit, i.e. the building permit issued by the Federal Office for Transport. Therefore, the BLS will discuss its proposal for the resized construction project and the additional procedure with the Federal Office of Transportation as soon as possible.
No lock
The construction period will run one year until 2023. Due to delays, the construction phases will also be postponed: the planned closure of one of the two runways from late October 2020 until shortly before Christmas will no longer apply.
The BLS made headlines in connection with the roadway renovation also due to the non-conforming stored ballast, which is said to have led to trout kills at the Blausee farm. Meanwhile, the ballast removal has been adjusted.
