Danube Bridge 2 Contractor Eyes Project Extension, Revision Of Costs

Spain's Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), hired to build a bridge spanning the Danube at Vidin-Calafat, has requested an extension to the project deadline and an increase in the implementation costs, a Transport Ministry official has said.The building contractor said the reason for its demands were the additional geological studies it had to make, changes to the project and delays in the expropriation of private land needed for the project.At the insistence of project engineers Inger/High-Point Rendel, FCC has had to conduct additional geological studies at its own expense.Simeon Evtimov, who heads the Transport Ministry unit in charge of the project, refused to disclose the likely budget overrun. The project is so far around four months behind schedule.After meeting with FCC executives recently, Transport Minister Petar Moutafchiev has said that the delay will be made up. The government official also admitted that the rising shipping cost for aggregates will add to the construction bill.The initial estimate for the cost of the facility was 226 million euro, with 70 million euro coming from EU's Ispa pre-accession program and the European Investment Bank. The Ispa money should be used by the end of 2010, which is also the target launch date for the bridge.