Quotations submitted by four construction companies or consortia for the government’s public tender for the design and construction of the southern section of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) East Line range from 4.62 billion patacas to 4.81 billion, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) announced in a statement yesterday.
Consequently, the whole LRT East Line construction project would cost between 9.09 billion and 9.94 billion patacas, as quotations for the LRT East Line northern-section project (final design plus construction) proposed by submitted bids that were unsealed on Tuesday range from 4.47 billion to 5.13 billion patacas.
The 7.7-kilometre-long LRT East Line will connect the Barrier Gate border checkpoint and the Taipa Ferry Terminal in Pac On via the Zone A and Zone E1 land reclamation areas. The East Line will cross the sea between Zone A and Zone E1 through an undersea tunnel.
The government launched two separate public tenders for the LRT East Line project, namely the 2.9-kilometre-long northern section and the 4.8-kilometre-long southern section, on October 26 last year.
The deadline for bid submissions for the northern-section project ended on Monday. A total of six construction companies or consortia submitted their bids, which were unsealed by DSOP officials on Tuesday. All bids were accepted.
The deadline for bid submissions for the southern-section project was on Wednesday. A total of four construction companies or consortia submitted their bids, which were unsealed by DSOP officials yesterday. All bids were accepted.
The LRT East Line will have six stations, including three stations in Zone A. All six stations will be built underground.
The first two stations of the LRT East Line, ES1 and ES2, will be built off the north-eastern coast of the peninsula. The two stations will require the land reclamation of the mudflats (aka tidal flats) off the coast.
The first station, ES1, will be built near the Barrier Gate checkpoint, while the second station, ES2, will be located near the Residência Macau residential estate.
The East Line will then run into Zone A, which will have three stations, namely ES3, ES4 and ES5, before crossing the sea through an undersea tunnel. The East Line will then enter Zone E1 where there will be one underground station, ES6, the sixth and last station of the LRT East Line. Afterwards, the track will gradually leave the underground segment and run on an elevated track before linking up with the Taipa Ferry Terminal station, the eastern terminus of the LRT Taipa section – Macau’s first LRT which came into service in December 2019.
Southern section line
According to the DSOP website, the 2.9-kilometre-long LRT East Line northern section will run from the ES1 station to the ES4 station, while the 4.8-kilometre-long southern section will run from the ES4 station to the ES6 station before linking up with the LRT Taipa section’s Taipa Ferry Terminal station.
Yesterday’s DSOP statement pointed out that the LRT East Line southern-section project will comprise the construction of three stations, namely ES4, ES5 and ES6, as well as three segments, namely an underground tunnel between the ES4 station and the ES5 station, an undersea tunnel between the ES5 station and the ES6 station, and a segment between the ES6 station and the Taipa Ferry Terminal station (climbing from the underground tunnel to the elevated track).
The government said last year that the LRT East Line project is slated to be completed in 2028.
All bids propose the same construction periods
According to the DSOP website, the bureau has set a maximum period of 1,500 working days for the respective winning bidders of the LRT East Line northern-section project and southern-section project to complete them. The winning bidders are required to carry out the projects’ final construction designs first before starting the construction.
According to Tuesday’s DSOP announcement, the quotations for the LRT East Line northern-section project (final design plus construction) proposed by six bidders range from 4.47 billion patacas to 5.13 billion patacas. In addition, the construction periods proposed by the six bidders are all the same, 1,350 working days.
Yesterday’s DSOP statement announced that the quotations for the LRT East Line southern-section project (final design plus construction) proposed by four bidders range from 4.62 billion patacas to 4.81 billion patacas. Moreover, the construction periods proposed by the four bidders are identical, also 1,350 working days, according to yesterday’s statement.
Consequently, based on the quotations submitted for the two public tenders, the whole LRT East Line construction project would cost between 9.09 billion and 9.94 billion patacas.
The bureau said that it expects the LRT East Line northern-section and southern-section projects to get off the ground at the same time, the second half of this year.
DSOP officials also noted yesterday that the two public tenders do not include the setting-up of the LRT East Line’s rail operating system, adding that the government expects to launch a public tender later this year for the setting-up of the system.
Public Works Bureau (DSOP) officials unseal bids for the government’s public tender for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) East Line southern-section project, on the bureau’s premises in Zape yesterday. – Photo: DSOP
This handout photo taken from the Public Works Bureau’s (DSOP) website yesterday shows the construction of a public housing estate in the Zone A land reclamation area in October last year.
