TURKEY: The Ministry for Transport & Infrastructure has invited expressions of interest in contracts to support the development of the 127 km Istanbul North Rail Crossing Project to build a railway bypass around the city, and has given advance notice of four tenders for construction works.
The US$6.5bn INRAIL route, to be designed for passenger and freight operation at up to 160 km/h, would create a new 127 km rail bypass around northern Istanbul, providing a direct connection between Turkey’s Asian and European rail networks without using the Marmaray corridor through the city centre, which only has the capacity to handle limited overnight freight traffic.
At the centre of the scheme is the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, the northern Bosphorus road crossing built with provision for a double-track railway that could now become the key link in a freight and passenger bypass around Istanbul.
Consultancy services
The Construction Supervision Consultant will cover oversight of the four civil works and electrification contracts, as well as a separate contract for signalling and telecoms. The selected company will ensure compliance with the contracts and technical standards, and must have experience of providing similar consulting services during the past 10 years.
The Project Implementation Oversight Consultant will provide independent technical verification, quality assurance and risk management services. Applicants should have been operating as railway engineering consultants for a minimum of 10 years.
Construction tenders
The first construction tenders for the INRAIL project are expected to be issued later this year, and will use the conditions specified in the World Bank’s Standard Procurement Document.
The 127 km line will include five twin-bore tunnels totalling 36.2km, 22 New Austrian Tunnelling Method tunnels totalling 23.3km, 17 cut-and-cover tunnels totalling 3.7 km, plus at least two viaducts and 40 bridges totalling 22.1 km.
Construction works are to be divided into four geographical lots, each covering design and construction of the civil and structural works, track, electrification and electromechanical system and where applicable, the design and construction of stations.
Lot 1: Çayırova – Sabiha Gökçen Airport – Kurtdoğmuş. Running east to west on the Asian side of the Bosphorus this includes around 27.8 km of double track alignment and 916 m of single track, much of which will be in tunnels. Also included is a new underground passenger station for Sabiha Gökçen airport.
Lot 2: Kurtdoğmuş – Alibahadır. This includes around 25.6 km of double-track alignment in Asia, involving extensive tunnelling plus a large number of viaducts and bridges.
Lot 3: Alibahadır – Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge – Mithatpaşa. This includes around 32 km of double-track alignment, including the Asian and European approaches to the Yavuz Sultan Selim bridge over the Bosporus and the bridge itself, which was built with provision for a double-track railway. There will be a series of NATM double-track tunnels on both sides of the bridge, as well as several cut-and-cover tunnels plus viaducts and bridges.
Lot 4: Mithatpaşa – İstanbul Airport – Çatalca: Running east to west on the European side of Istanbul, this includes 37.8 km of double-track main line plus around 2.0 km of single-track connections, a major twin-bore tunnel to be built with TBMs, several sections of NATM and cut-and-cover tunnels, viaducts and bridges.
A contract covering signalling and telecoms for the entire line will be tendered separately.
See also
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