Dublin Corporation is assessing tenders from five design and construct consortia shortlisted to build the I£204M ($245.5M) Dublin Port Tunnel (T&TI November 1999).
The contract will be awarded in September for one the Irish Republic’s largest projects ever, likely to last three and a half years.
The 4.5km twin bore road tunnel will carry traffic to the port from Ireland’s motorway network, relieving city centre congestion.
Residents on the tunnel route had opposed the scheme because of the involvement of consultant Geoconsult and concerns that it will be built using NATM. The client denies a decision has been made on the method.
Deputy project manager, Hugh Creegan, said: “It is a design and construct contract, so the full design is the responsibility of the contractor.”
Geoconsult, the Austrian firm involved in the design of the Heathrow Express, is working in a joint venture with Ove Arup to provide engineering services up to the appointment of the contractor.
The Geoconsult/Arup JV is just one of 10 consortia that have applied for the contract to supervise the job. Four will be shortlisted, and an ppointment made once the winning contractor has been chosen.
The shortlisted contractors are: Portlink Consortium (Ascon, Edmund Nuttall, Beton-und-Monierbau) Campenon Bernard SGE/SIAC/Universale Bau JV, Nishimatsu/Mowlem/Irishenco Consortium (NMI), Hegarty/Dumez-GTM/Ostu Stettin JV, The Miller group, and AMEC/Spie/Mulcair JV.
