PUBLIC WORKS

Gov’t receives six bids for construction of the northern section of LRT East Line

The Public Works Bureau (DSOP) has received a total of six bids for the construction of the section north of the Macau Light Rapid Transit (LRT) East Line that will connect Pac On in Taipa to Border Gate, passing through the Zone A of the new landfills.

The number, price, and duration of the works proposed were unveiled yesterday in a bid opening ceremony held at the DSOP.

According to the information released, the bid price range is between MOP4.473 billion and MOP5.136 billion and the overall design and construction time is of 1,350 working days.

The DSOP has also indicated that it hopes the construction can start as early as the second half of this year.

These bids refer only to the northern part of the East Line, which is the section that starts at the Border Gate and goes until the fourth LRT station located midway into the Zone A of the new landfills with a total length of 2.9 kilometers.

As for the southern section, the longer one (4.8 km) that includes a sea-crossing tunnel section to link the line to the Pac On area in Taipa, the government has launched a separate tender. The proposals for this tender will be unveiled today.

Both public tenders were launched in October last year.

When it is complete, the East Line will have a total of 7.7 km interlinking, the Border Gate, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port (through a separate line), and the Taipa Ferry Terminal and the Airport (via the existing Taipa Line) facilitating the connection between four large entry and exit ports of Macau.

The government has previously announced that it would make use of separate tenders for the two different sections of the line to save time and money, especially in the bidding process. This method also allows the construction to be attributed to two different contractors or consortiums at the same time which will put more resources simultaneously on the ground, accelerating the construction process from the ends to the meeting point.

The government expects that the East Line of the LRT will be completed and ready to enter into operation in 2028.

Categories Macau