Michael Ferguson,Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Our essential Information for Industry for the New Bridgewater Bridge has today been published on the Transport website and made available to pre-qualified construction companies. This work includes project information relating to context, background and procurement timing and milestones.
As part of The Hobart City Deal, the Australian and Tasmanian Governments committed $576 million to build a new contemporary 4 lane Bridgewater Bridge to improve safety and reduce congestion for the 22,000 vehicles crossing it each day.
Contractors that are pre-qualified at the highest levels of road (R5) and bridge (B4) construction and financial (F150+) pre-qualification under the national Austroads pre-qualification scheme will be able to access further documentation through a Virtual Data Room.
Pre-qualified contractors will also be able to register for a pre-Request for Proposal (RFP) briefing to be held in August. A briefing for the broader local civil industry will also be arranged.
The next critical stage, the RFP will be issued to market by 31 August signalling the formal start of the procurement process. A subsequent Early Contractor Involvement procurement process will see the two tenderers selected from the RFP phase engaging in a competitive design process to determine the final design for the new bridge and achieve the best value for the Tasmanian community.
Involving contractors in the early stages of the project design allows for closer involvement in the development of the designs, providing opportunities for industry innovation and construction efficiencies.
Projects of this size and scale are incredibly complex and carry substantial commercial and legal risk, including in procurement, planning and construction, and it is important we have experts managing that risk.
To deliver this once-in-a-generation project, a team has been established, including two of the country's top infrastructure procurement and commercial advisory specialists.
Work to prepare the site for construction is progressing, with a contract awarded this week to Spectran Contracting for the demolition of a number of properties to make way for the new bridge.
These properties have been progressively acquired by the Department of State Growth as they have become available, and have been vacated as leases expire.
A Design and Construct contract is anticipated to be awarded at the end of 2021, with construction on the new bridge to start in 2022.
To access the Information for Industry document, visit Future Opportunities at www.tenders.tas.gov.au.
