ON JULY 16 the Netherlands Ministry of Transport, Public Works & Water Management signed definitive contracts with five consortia for construction of the substructure for HSL Zuid from Amsterdam to the Belgian border. The five groups include Ballast Nedam, Boskalis, HBG, Heijmans, NBM-Amstelland, Van Oord ACZ, Strukton, Dura Vermeer, Volker Wessels Stevin and Philipp Holzmann.
The deal confirms a provisional agreement signed on March 14 (RG 5.00 p267). During the subsequent detailed negotiations, the total price rose from 4·15bn to 4·32bn guilders. This reflects higher costs arising from changes to the construction methods and technical refinements, which will be borne jointly by the ministry and the consortia. A sixth contract provides an overall agreement allocating 80m guilders for possible contract variations. This brings the total cost to 4·4bn guilders; the extra 250m will be absorbed in the government’s long-range Infrastructure & Transport Programme.
The Ministry has agreed a budget for the trackwork integration package covering links between HSL Zuid and the existing rail network. Negotations are still under way over the privately-financed Infrastructure Provision concession which will cover the construction, management and maintenance of the track, signalling and electrification systems. The tendering and contracting process for construction of the tunnel under the ’Groene Hart’ began at the end of last year.
