SPANISH high-speed infrastructure manager Adif AV has called tenders for civil works on a further section of the Burgos - Vitoria high-speed line. The contract covers 22.7km of alignment between Piérnigas and Pancorbo.
A budget of €357.6m had been set for civil works. There will be a total of 12 viaducts, including two of 1.8km and 1.4km in length over the River Oroncillo, and a 900m viaduct crossing the River Oca.
This is the fourth civil works contract to be tendered for the Burgos - Vitoria high-speed line, following the 16.7km Burgos - Valle de las Navas section and the 7km from Manzanos to La Puebla de Arganzón. The combined budget for the two sections is €356.7m.
Construction is already underway on the 8.4 km section between Pancorbo and Ameyugo. Adif AV says that work is in progress or out to tender on four of the seven sections of the new line, representing 54.8km of its 96.6km total length. Tenders are being prepared for the remaining three sections.
Basque Y
The new Burgos - Vitoria line will form part of the Atlantic Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), connecting with the Basque Y high-speed line at Vitoria to eventually enable high-speed trains to run between Madrid and the French border at Irún.
Meeting at Bergara, the three arms of the Basque Y run to Vitoria, Bilbao and San Sebastián. Construction of the Bergara - San Sebastián section is being undertaken by the Basque regional government, and civil works have been completed with the exception of the connection with the 1668mm-gauge network at Astigarraga. From Astigarraga, a third rail is being laid by Adif on the mainline to Irún for 1435mm-gauge high-speed trains.
With the majority of civil works completed, Adif AV has awarded an €18m contract to an unnamed bidder to build a tracklaying base that will handle rail and turnouts to be installed between Bergara and Astigarraga. As well as the base at Martutene on the main line to Irún, the contract includes the construction of a ballast supply point at Ezkio Itsaso, and 35 supply points to support the installation of slab track between Bergara and Astigarraga. Work is underway to prepare tender documentation for the tracklaying contract itself.
Adif AV says that civil works have been completed on 15 sections of the Vitoria - Bilbao portion of the Basque Y. Work is in progress to complete the remaining four, including three at the Bergara junction complex.
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