Companies invited to pre-qualify for Vlora by-pass

TIRANA, June 4 – After the selection of the winning company to build the Fier-by pass, a pre-qualification tender has also been launched for the Vlora by-pass, a major project serving tourism in the southern Albania coastline. London-based EBRD which is financing the project says the Albanian Road Authority is accepting pre-qualification bids until July 25.
Vlora by-pass consists of a 29 km long route composed of a new single carriageway highway, numerous new bridges and 8 at grade junctions. The project starts from the Roundabout at the end of the Double Carriageway Levan Vlora. It connects the Fier Vlore Road with the -sea-side Road Vlore Saranda in south of Vlore.
The project is part of the Fier and Vlore Bypass Project financed by several international financial institutions and estimated at Euro 167 million.
The two bypasses are key sections of the national road network in Albania and will connect important roads previously co-financed by the EBRD and EIB (such as the Levan-Tepelene and Levan-Vlore roads). The bypasses will help improve the regional integration, facilitate trade and economic growth, alongside supporting tourism development in southern Albania.
Italy’s Serenissima, which last year submitted the lowest bid to build the Fier by-pass, a 22 km-highway linking the southwestern city of Fier to Levan town, has already signed a deal with the Albanian government to start works.
“Works for the construction of this motorway will be carried out by Italy’s Serenissima, an experienced company in construction and highway management. Serenissima won the race for this highway by bidding Euro 39.87 million, from a price tag of Euro 60 million, saving 20 million euros or more than 33 percent of the fund,” said the Public Works Ministry in a statement.
The project concerns the construction of 22 kilometers of a dual two-lane motorway on a new alignment around the town of Fier, situated near the coast in central Albania.