VIADUCTS, BRIDGES AND TUNNELS - UNREAL PRICES No representative of the state, at the negotiations for Comarnic-Braşov Motorway

The price of Comarnic-Braşov motorway, where the kilometre will get to a price of EUR 28 million, was set out by the experts of the participating consortia, an external independent consultant and the experts of the financing banks, according to a press release issued by the Romanian National Company of Motorways and National Roads (CNADNR) that is under the subordination of the minister for Large Projects, Dan Şova. The press release does not specify the participation of any representative of the Romanian state at the negotiations, that should have controlled the costs or, at least, to pretend having done this.

Moreover, CNADNR asserts in the same press release that, the representatives of BEI (the European Investment Bank) and BERD (the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) who are interested in financing this objective, participated incessantly in the negotiations related to the carrying out of the motorway beside the private financiers. As long as the press release is true, then, the banks that are to finance the project set out the price of the constructions.

In case this is true, although the price is exorbitant, we ask ourselves why the price is not a hundred times higher?! What was the element that should limit the financiers in setting their own profit?

The project includes 19 viaducts, 15 bridges and 20 km of tunnels.

The costs for building in the mountains, digging tunnels, everywhere in the world (except for the countries hard to pronounce from Africa), is much higher than building on the surface.

In our country, the situation is topsy-turvy, still the execution of the 20 kilometres of tunnels having a total cost of EUR 396.368 million, much lower compared to the EUR 1.070 billion for the rest of 40 kilometres (which is the part without tunnels).

Namely, in our country it is cheaper to build tunnels (the cost for one kilometre of tunnel being EUR 20 million / km compared to 28 million per kilometre for the motorway in a mountain area. Practically, a kilometre of motorway through the tunnels is 25% cheaper than a kilometre at surface.

The subject related to the price of the motorway shall become an argument of the authorities, boasting about getting a reduction of EUR 7 million/kilometre, compared to the negotiations from 2010.

The National Company of Motorways omits to tell us that the price from 2010 was unreal.

The project has a value of EUR 1.8 billion . Thus, at a tax of 7 lei/car (EUR 1,55) for the crossing of the motorway, after it is ready, it would be necessary at an average traffic of 110.000 cars/day, for a period of 29 years of the concession, for the constructing company to recover its investment of EUR 1.8 billion without having a profit.

Political sources assert that the authorities of the state could have got a much reduced cost especially if they had chosen another route, on Ghimbăşelului valley, this being larger than the valley through which the current national road Predeal -Rasnov is passing. The choice of this variant would have meant less field to expropriate, compared to the option to climb towards Predeal, diminishing the costs with the expropriations.