This is from GDDKiA (government organization General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways) press release on 8 September 2023. It lists the contracts and tenders announced and/or in progress in Poland.  (image above: GDDKiA tenders announced in 2023 - as of September 6)

Not only in tunnel construction but in general road construction projects in Poland. Most useful information in my opinion is it gives insight information into how GDDKiA or in general Polish government handles road construction tenders and contracts.

Straight translation from Polish to English. I do not accept responsibility for any translation mistakes. I do not represent GDDKiA in any way, in any form. You can always get it translated by a professional translator from original Polish release. I am giving the link at the bottom as the tradition goes in this group.

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General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways

Contracts and tenders 2023 in numbers

The tender for selecting the investment contractor has its own rules and is a dynamic process. Its duration may vary, depending on many factors often beyond the investor's control. Construction works are the culmination of the entire investment preparation process, but before they begin, we must sign a contract with the winner of the tender procedure. We invite you to read the statistics summarizing the last eight months and what still awaits us by the end of the year.

image: GDDKi Signed contracts for implementation in 2023 - as of September 6

Price and formal fight for contracts
Due to the new technical regulations and their implementation into our requirements contained in the Functional and Utility Program (FFU), we decided to organize pre-bid meetings with contractors. The goal is to present the subject of the order and collect comments and opinions from the industry. This process lengthened the tender, it is true, but the cost is worth incurring because as a result, it was possible to develop a model PFU, thanks to which the offers should be better calculated

Unfortunately, the fight for contracts is not so much about price, but about formal and administrative ones, which effectively prolongs the tender procedures. This happens by appealing to the National Appeals Chamber (KIO). In almost every proceeding, we have to appeal to the National Appeals Chamber. These concern the content of the Terms of Reference (SWZ), requests to extend the deadline for submitting offers, the selection of the most advantageous offer or technical questions (in the procedure for the implementation of 19 Jawornik-Lutcza, this resulted in the extension of the procedure by half a year). Recently, there have been references to the act of declassifying documents classified as "trade secrets". Each appeal extends the entire process by approximately 1.5 months.

In procedures, we often extend the deadline for submitting offers when answering questions to the SWZ - all this in order for bidders to properly estimate the cost and calculate the risks. Despite this, contractors often request an extension of the deadline for submitting offers (TSO) by, for example, three weeks! And in our proceedings, it happens that there are five or six such applications for the extension of TSO per procedure.

The ordering party's responsibility also includes a thorough and reliable examination of offers and their discrepancies. Well, due to the difference in valuation between the offers and the ordering party's cost estimate, there is a need to verify them in detail. This issue is particularly important in the case of new contractors - debuting on our market. Their potential is unknown and experience is gained in countries where geographical conditions are completely different from those in Poland.

Statistics clearly show that interest in our procedures is growing - the average offers for large investment tasks for 2023 is nine offers per procedure! In 2021-2022, there were seven offers. This is much more compared to the national average (four offers). There is a fight on the market for GDDKiA contracts, also from foreign companies, which means more offers and the time needed to evaluate them. An example is the tender for three sections of the S17, where a total of 35 offers were received! 11 for ep. Paski - Łopiennik and 12 each for the sections Krasnystaw - Izbica and Izbica - Stary Zamość.

image: GDDKiA Tenders in progress - as of September 6, 2023

Financing and stability
Once again, the implementation of the state budget by GDDKiA in 2022 amounted to 99.9%. and over 93 percent from the National Road Fund (KFD). It was nearly PLN 5.4 billion and slightly over PLN 13 billion, respectively. This means that we have maintained a stable and comparable level since the record-breaking 2020! This is over PLN 4 billion more than, for example, in 2019, when expenses reached approximately PLN 13.8 billion. In 2020, investment expenditure amounted to approximately PLN 15.4 billion, and year-to-year investment expenditure in 2021-2022 amounts to approximately PLN 15.1 billion. The plan for 2023 and subsequent years is equally ambitious.

It should be emphasized that our tender plans for the next 12 months are published at the end of the previous year, so that construction companies can plan the next construction season in advance. Thanks to this, company management boards know how to prepare, how to allocate their forces and what investments to make in order to prepare properly calculated offers in subsequent GDDKiA proceedings. This predictability and transparency influence the stability of the construction industry, which has attracted the interest of new entities from Europe and Asia.

On May 24, 2022, the Council of Ministers decided to increase the financial limit of the Government Program for the Construction of National Roads by PLN 2.6 billion and the Government Program for the construction of 100 bypasses by PLN 115 million. The decision also includes an increase to 10%. indexation limit for contracts for which it was previously at a lower level. We wrote about it on our website.

On December 13, 2022, the Council of Ministers adopted the Government Program for the Construction of National Roads until 2030 (with a perspective until 2033). The program assumes the completion of all currently planned expressways and connecting all Polish regions and provincial cities with a network of safe and comfortable roads. A total amount of approximately PLN 294.4 billion will be allocated for the implementation of investments included in the new Program. This is the largest road program in the history of Poland.

The road market in numbers

Agreements 2023
Since the beginning of the year, as part of the Government Programmes, Construction of National Roads and Construction of 100 ring roads, we have signed 10 contracts for construction works. Six contracts concerned the construction of expressways, and four were contracts for the construction of bypasses. The total length of the sections for which contracts were signed is 128.5 km, worth PLN 5.34 billion.

By the end of the year, we plan to sign contracts for road sections with a total length of just over 200 km, including S7 north of Warsaw, S8 south of Wrocław, S16 near Olsztyn, S17 in the province. Lubelskie, S19 in the province Podkarpackie and S74 in the province Świętokrzyskie.

Tenders 2023
Since the beginning of this year as part of RPBDK and PB100, we announced 16 tenders for the construction of sections with a total length of 259.3 km. 15 tasks for the construction of expressways (247.9 km) and one for the construction of a bypass (11.4 km).

We currently have 26 proceedings underway. 11 of them are proceedings before the submission of offers. This is the time for contractors to make proper calculations and prepare optimal, well-thought-out offers, taking into account all risks and analyzing the market situation. Therefore, we are waiting for offers for the following procedures:

     S19 Sokółka – Czarna Białostocka
     S19 Czarna Białostocka – Białystok Północ
     S19 Białystok Północ – Dobrzyniewo
     DK12 Głogów bypass
     DK29 bypass of Krosno Odrzańskie
     DK28 Sanok bypass
     DK22 ring road of Sweden
     S11 Kępno – Siemianice
     S11 Siemianice – Gotartów
     S11 Gotartów - beginning of the Olesno bypass
     S12 gr. voivodeship Łódź - Przysucha junction

In turn, we have 12 tender procedures underway, but after the offers have been opened. Now is the time to examine them and verify the submitted documentation, which will ultimately allow you to choose the most advantageous one. These are the proceedings for the following sections:

     S7 Czosnów – Kiełpin
     S8 Kobierzyce – Kobierzyce
     S8 Kobierzyce – Jordanów
     S8 Jordanów – Łagiewniki
     S16 Olsztyn – Barczewo
     S16 Barczewo – Biskupiec
     S17 Piaski – Łopiennik
     S17 Krasnystaw – Izbica
     S17 Izbica – Zamość
     S19 Jawornik – Lutcza
     S19 Lutcza – Domaradz
     S74 Cedzyna – Łagów

For two tender procedures, we have currently selected the most advantageous offers and we are waiting for the results of the standard prior inspection of the tender carried out by the President of the Public Procurement Office. We are talking about procedures for the construction of two sections of S74, the border of the province. Łódź – Przełom/Mniów and Łagów – Jałowęsy – Nisko

In addition, we are also conducting proceedings for the construction of the Zator bypass under competitive dialogue. Let us remind you that this is the first GDDKiA investment that will be built using the BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology and tools.

In turn, for two procedures for the expansion of two sections of DK65 Gąski - Ełk and from Nowa Wieś Ełcka to the border of the voivodeship - the inspection of the President of the Public Procurement Office is not required and we are before signing the contract.

However, there is still a lot ahead of us this year and we are working on documentation that will allow us to announce over 20 proceedings by the end of the calendar year. These will be tenders for 26 sections with a total length of 262 km. 15 sections for expressways with a total length of 194.75 km, and 11 for bypasses with a total length of 67.25 km. These will include: further sections of S8 in the province. Lower Silesia, S10 from Szczecin to Piła, S11 in the province Greater Poland Voivodeship, S12 in the province Masovian Voivodeship, S16 in the province Podlasie.

- These data show that the road investment market in Poland, as the main communication backbone of the country, offers good prospects for the coming years for the entire contracting industry, manufacturers, service providers, and for drivers, hope that there will be more and more roads of better quality. – Tomasz Żuchowski, acting General Director of National Roads and Motorways.
Challenges

When it comes to tenders and then the effective implementation of the investment, well-thought-out and calculated offers submitted by contractors are needed. But they are not the only guarantee of success. It is also a whole range of other factors, including: issues of good logistics and transport, market price levels, availability of materials, as well as suitably qualified workers on construction sites. Efficient issuance of consents and permits by public administration and responsible construction supervision are also extremely important. These are the challenges we must meet.

During meetings, representatives of industry associations present the results of the analysis of contracts subject to indexation, indicating the increase in risks on the part of contractors and the need for a response from the Ministry of Infrastructure and GDDKiA.

Industry representatives also point out the need for real activities related to the certification of contractors, which should ultimately translate into bonuses for reliable companies that efficiently perform contracts.

Dialogue is the basis of good cooperation

Important to focus on solving problems and effectively overcoming obstacles. And there are different situations when building roads. For example, protests by local communities against the construction of individual road sections. GDDKiA, as a public investor, is obliged to look for socially acceptable solutions. Cooperation, transparency and good communication are key elements of the investment preparation process. Therefore, at the road planning stage, we conduct an extensive information campaign.

The cycle of preparation and implementation of a road investment, i.e. from idea to implementation, takes on average 8 years. It is a complex and long-term process that requires close cooperation between offices and external entities. It is also a complex undertaking requiring specialist knowledge, discipline, huge financial outlays, cooperation of many offices and professional engineering implementation.
- Cooperation and dialogue in the industry are encouraging. It is important to me that we can implement road investments together and each year increase the number of roads, improve their quality, and thus the safety and efficiency of travel around our country - emphasizes Tomasz Żuchowski, Head of GDDKiA.

We meet with general contractors, the design industry, the financial sector, representatives of industry organizations as well as entities maintaining already constructed roads. This constructive dialogue, search for solutions and process optimization, orientation towards new technologies and development of the entire industry will allow us to achieve the goal of modern, safe and comfortable roads.

https://www.gov.pl/web/gddkia/umowy-i-przetargi-2023-w-liczbach

also images is from GDDKiA.