The construction of a flyover connecting the Zone A land reclamation area and Nape would cost up to 2.39 billion patacas, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has said.
The bureau also said that the project is now expected to get off the ground in the fourth quarter.
The bureau launched a limited tender on September 27 last year for the project when the bureau requested construction companies to submit their intentions to bid for the project by November 29, with the top five qualified companies, decided by score calculations, to be eligible to submit quotations.
A total of six construction companies had submitted their intentions to bid for the project, which were assessed by DSOP officials based on four criteria, namely their respective general ability to carry out construction projects (accounting for 40 percent of the scores), construction techniques and experience (accounting for 30 percent), human resources (account for 20 percent), and interview results with officials (accounting for 10 percent).
The bureau announced the five companies with the highest scores in the Official Gazette (BO) on February 28, according to which they were required to submit their quotations by Tuesday. All five companies had submitted their bids, which were unsealed by DSOP officials on Wednesday. All bids were accepted.
The winning bidder will be required to carry out the project’s final design first before starting the construction.
Wednesday’s DSOP statement announced that the quotations for the project (final design plus construction) proposed by the five bidders range from 2.18 billion patacas to 2.39 billion patacas.
The tender has set a maximum period of 1,000 working days for the completion of the project, with the first 150 working days earmarked for the completion of its final design.
Wednesday’s statement announced that the final design and construction periods proposed by the five bidders are identical, 900 working days.
After the bureau completes its assessments of the five submitted bids, it will choose and commission the winner.
The bureau will now assess the five bids in compliance with five criteria, namely the proposed construction cost accounting for 50 percent of the scores, the proposed final design and construction period accounting for 20 percent, the proposed construction design accounting for 10 percent, the proposed construction plan accounting for 15 percent, and the bidders’ respective records on occupational health and safety accounting for 5 percent.
Wednesday’s statement also said that the bureau expects the project to get off the ground in the fourth quarter.
3.2 km in total
According to the DSOP website, the 1,550-metre-long vehicular overpass, known as AB Link, will run from near the Kun Iam statue on the Nape waterfront to the roundabout outside the Macau Science Centre (MSC), from where it will cross the sea running under the Macau-Taipa Friendship Bridge and finally land in Zone A.
In addition, the website says, the AB Link will also be connected with the fourth Macau-Taipa bridge connecting the Zone A and Zone E1 land reclamation areas. Macau’s fourth sea-crossing bridge connecting the Macau peninsula and Taipa island, which has been officially named Macau Bridge, is slated to open in the next quarter.
Including all its spurs and surrounding road networks on both the Nape and Zone A sides, the AB Link will be 3.2 kilometres long in total.
Reason for postponement
When the bureau unsealed the six intentions to bid for the AB Link project on November 30 last year, it said that the project was expected to get off the ground in the second quarter of 2024.
The bureau said on Wednesday that the scheduled start of the project will now be postponed to the fourth quarter of this year because it has revised the required method to carry out the project.
The bureau also said on Wednesday that the current footbridge connecting the Macau Cultural Centre (CCM) and the green promenade there will be demolished, where a pedestrian underpass will be built there.
According to the bureau, a new footbridge will be constructed connecting near the Kun Iam statue and the future government office building, the construction of which is being carried out, near the Macau Cultural Centre.
This photo taken late last year shows the area outside the Macau Science Centre (MSC) in Nape where the future AB Link from Zone A will land.
