we have the winning company, the most expensive bridge ever will be built on the Danube, but it will be worth every last forint – map

Without exaggeration, the biggest Hungarian investment of the coming years reached a milestone early Wednesday afternoon. The evaluation of the bids received for the related public procurement procedure was made public. It is nothing more than a new Danube bridge, more precisely the Danube bridge in Mohács and the related road network.

The tender was issued by the Ministry of Construction and Transport (ÉKM), the open EU procedure started at the beginning of September 2023. The final bid deadline was November 23, 2023, but land acquisitions had already taken place by then. Even at the end of last autumn, it was possible to calculate that the evaluation of the received offers could be due sometime this spring. So it happened anyway.

On Tuesday, János Hargitai, the government member of parliament for the area (individual electoral district No. 3 of Baranya county) and ministerial commissioner of the Mohács 500 program, indicated that the public procurement has been concluded, and the evaluation of the construction tenders has taken so far. He also revealed that a substantial competition had developed and that all three had made an offer to build the new Danube bridge in Mohács.

At the same time, he did not reveal who the winner is and how much the crossing will cost, which, if all goes well, will be the 21st on the Hungarian section of the Danube. The 20th is the Danube bridge in Kalocsa, which is essentially finished, and its handover is due this summer.

János Hargitai also predicted that the public will be informed about the winner of the tender within days. We didn’t even have to wait that long, because on Wednesday a little before 1:00 p.m., a summary of the offers was uploaded to the electronic public procurement system, and all the details were revealed.

What is being built in Mohács: not just a new bridge

As we have already mentioned, it is not only about the construction of a new Danube bridge, but also about the road network connected to it. In other words, when we examine the cost of the investment, this must be taken into account. In the public procurement, it is stated precisely: the ÖKM is the Danube bridge in Mohács and the connecting one, no. 51. ordered the implementation of the construction tasks of the road network between the second-order main road and the M6 ​​motorway, which was divided into three separate but parallel sections.

• First a total of 28.8 kilometers of 2×1 and 2×2 lanes will be completed. This includes a roundabout, three road bridges, and a bicycle path from the new Danube bridge.
• For the second time the big bang is coming, the new bridge crossing the Danube river with a total length of 756 meters as part of the national road. It will have three elements, two floodplain bridges and a riverbed bridge. The structural system of the bridges is provided by two-support underpass steel arch bridges, bracing brackets with a closed cabinet cross-section and arches with orthotropic, i.e. straight-standing, steel track plates and two-sided mesh suspension. The total height of the structure is 2.75 meters (so it will be almost that much above the normal water level of the river) and what is even more important is that the new Danube bridge in Mohács will also be built with a 2×2 lane split track cross-section, and also with a cycle path crossing.
• For the third time and connected to the above-mentioned floodplain bridge, an 8.5-kilometer long 2×2-lane divided national public road (main road) will be built up to the M6 ​​highway. In total, there will be five new turbo roundabouts, one structure above sidings and the public road, one structure with three openings above the siding, one structure with two supports above the industrial road, and a 3.9-meter-wide bicycle underpass frame element. In addition, three other two-support artefacts and one two-support bicycle artefact.

And that’s not all, because during the implementation, interventions are made on the national and municipal roads connecting to the roundabouts. Bicycle paths will be built, utilities will be replaced and built, and a parallel agricultural road will also be built. ÉKM also pointed out that the construction investment is considered an indivisible service.

How much will the new Danube bridge in Mohács cost and who can build it?

The conducted public procurement procedure was valid and effective. Indeed, three offers were received, from Duna Aszfalt Út és Mélyépító Zrt., Strabag Építő Kft. and Swietelsky Magyarország Kft., in the latter consortium.

The construction industry giant from Tiszakécske undertakes the construction of the new Danube bridge in Mohács and the related tasks detailed above for a net amount of HUF 294.96 billion without reserve, while Strabag’s net amount is HUF 309.96 billion (which is HUF 15 billion more) and Swietelsky’s net amount is HUF 316.028 gave a price of HUF billion (that’s more than HUF 21 billion more), also without a reserve limit.

After the contracting authority ranked the offers according to the aspect of best value for money, the evaluation scores multiplied by the weight number also developed accordingly: Duna Aszfalt received 1000 points, Strabag received 966.4 points, and Swietelsky received 953.1 points. Although the net amount of 294.96 billion is unprecedentedly high, it is still more favorable than expected. Last December, the Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár estimated that the construction of the new Danube bridge would cost HUF 300-320 billion.

However, the conclusion of the contract is still pending, as the moratorium must expire first. This started today, Thursday, and will last until Monday, May 6. Until now, it is possible to challenge the result of the public procurement procedure.

Why is a new Danube bridge needed at Mohács?

The construction of a bridge connecting the two parts of Mohács, i.e. Mohács (Mohács and Újmohács), cut off by the Danube, has been on the agenda for several decades. Its realization was given the final boost when Prime Minister Viktor Orbán assured his support for the investment at his annual review in February 2023, despite the difficult economic situation of the Ukrainian war. “The plan to catch up with the eastern part of the country also remains. It is time to finally unite Hunnia and Pannonia both economically and in terms of living standards. That’s why we’re building bridges on the Danube, we’ll finish the one in Paks right away, and we’ll start the one in Mohács soon,” he said at the time.

Idestova has been planning for thirty years that a bridge will one day cross the Danube at Mohács. At the moment, it is only possible to cross here by ferry, often in adverse conditions, as evidenced by the entry of Gábor Pávkovics, mayor of Mohács.

As previously pointed out by Világgazdaság, the new bridge would not only make the everyday life of the local population easier, but would also be of particular importance in the national road network: it would create a connection between highway No. 51 and the M6 ​​motorway. It also plays an important role in the long-term goals, as it can also function as a connecting element of the southern national road expressway ring. This means in practice that

Not to mention that it would also provide a crossing of the river for freight traffic from neighboring countries in the south-southeast. This considerable truck traffic does not need to drive over the Baja bridge, located approximately 30 kilometers to the north, otherwise inland.

It is good to emphasize that it is not just about the bridge, but also about the road network connected to it, and a port development is also on the agenda. If all of this is really achieved, the way can be opened for Mohács to become a decisive logistics base.

When can the new Danube bridge near Mohács be ready and what is the Mohács 500?

It was previously reported that 50 months are available for the construction of the new Danube bridge in Mohács from the signing of the contract. If it still stands, it can be handed over to traffic by the end of summer 2028, starting from May this year. However, the bridge structure can be completed by 2026. This would also be important because the Mohács 500 program culminates in that year.

Just a few weeks ago, Ministerial Commissioner János Hargitai gave a podcast interview to Világgazdaság, in which he also talked about how the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács is being organized in full swing. Within this framework, on the one hand, multi-billion HUF cultural and regional development investments will be realized, but on the other hand, the Danube bridge in Mohács will be part of it, the M6 ​​highway will be extended to the national border, and a new museum will be born, commemorating the disaster in Mohács.

The 400th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács was overshadowed by the end of World War I. The Trianon Peace Treaty made commemoration difficult. In contrast, in 2026, a hundred years later, the government is already preparing a worthy series of events. If you want to know more about everything that is being done within the framework of Mohács 500, you can find more information on this link.

In the video below, Gábor Pávkovics, mayor of Mohács, summarized what was known about the Danube Bridge in Mohács at the end of last September.