Pärnu Bridge Construction Companies Belonging to Infortari Group
Pärnu City Government signed a contract today worth €26.7 million for the design and construction of a new bridge in Pärnu with INF Infra OÜ and AS EG Ehitus, engineering and construction companies belonging to Infortar group, Estonia's largest investment company, which won the public procurement.
"Today is certainly a historic moment as we sign the design and construction contract for the arch bridge between Raba and Laia streets. For decades, there has been talk of building a new bridge over the Pärnu River, and over the last five years we have intensively worked on finding solutions to multiple challenges – selecting the bridge location, detailed planning, construction tenders, bridge financing," noted Pärnu Mayor Romek Kosenkranius.
"Today I am pleased to say that we have reached the point where the construction of the new bridge is actually beginning! This moment is certainly historic: the construction of the Great Bridge (currently the City Center Bridge) began in Pärnu nearly 90 years ago, and the last major bridge construction in Pärnu took place at Papiniidu nearly half a century ago. I wish the builders strength and wisdom so that we can open a new and beautiful bridge in the city center in two years' time, and I thank the current Pärnu city coalition, through whose joint efforts in finding solutions today became possible at all," said Kosenkranius.
"We understand the importance of Pärnu's new bridge and will make maximum efforts to ensure the project's success. Besides shipping and energy, Infortar has also become one of the largest real estate, mineral resources, and fastest-growing engineering and construction companies. We have assembled a very experienced team for building bridges and infrastructure facilities," said Infortar's Board Chairman Ain Hanschmidt.
"We will use innovative solutions and technologies in the construction of Pärnu's bridge, which will allow Pärnu residents and the city to save significantly on time and money, and ultimately get the bridge completed sooner and at a more affordable price. Novel construction technology will help reduce construction costs, completion time, and environmental impact," noted Robert Sinikas, Board Member of INF Infra OÜ, part of the Infortar group.
INF Infra, part of Estonia's largest investment company Infortar group, received maximum points in Pärnu's bridge tender. INF Infra's bid was the cheapest and the construction time the fastest, scoring 100 out of 100 points. The price offered by INF Infra including VAT was €26,666,665 and the construction time was 22 months.
Pärnu's new bridge will become Estonia's longest bridge with a span of 140 meters. Currently, Estonia's longest-span bridges are the Rannu-Jõesuu and Ihaste bridges, both with a maximum span of 90 meters. Pärnu's new bridge span will exceed current longest-span bridges by one and a half times. Additionally, Pärnu's new bridge will also become the longest cable-stayed arch bridge in the Baltic countries and Finland. The bridge designers are engineers Andreas Papp and Dmitri Gorbatjuk from Stricto Projekt OÜ.
Infortar is Estonia's largest investment company with a balance sheet totaling €1.1 billion and equity of €569 million. Infortar operates in five countries, with its main business areas being energy, shipping, and real estate. In total, 48 subsidiary companies belong to the Infortar group. Infortar owns a 40 percent stake in AS Tallink Grupp, 100 percent ownership in AS Eesti Gaas, and a diverse and modern real estate portfolio.
Closely related to real estate are the construction companies belonging to Infortar: EG Ehitus, INF Ehitus, and INF Infra, as well as Estonian Raw Materials Group, which owns one of the larger portfolios of construction materials.
Construction companies belonging to Infortar have built several complex infrastructure facilities, including the Balticconnector connecting Estonia and Finland, and three biogas plants. The company currently has five projects in general construction, the largest of which is Rimi's new logistics center in Saulé and an office building in Tallinn on Liivalaia Street.
In the Pärnu new bridge competitive dialogue public procurement that began in May last year, five bidders participated: Nordecon AS, Puentes y Calzadas Infraestructuras S.L.U; AS Merko Ehitus Eesti and KMG Infra OÜ; INF INFRA OÜ and AS EG Ehitus; GRK Eesti AS GRK Infra Oyj and GRK Suomi Oy; and ACBR SIA, "Vektors T", SIA TILTS.
The urban and architectural suitability of the sketch projects submitted by bidders was assessed during the public procurement process by architects and the bridge procurement negotiations commission, after which the contracting authorities submitted final bids by February 9, 2023 for suitable projects. At the March 27 meeting, the city government decided to recognize all bids as compliant and declared the bid by INF INFRA OÜ and AS EG Ehitus as the best bid, qualified in the total amount of €26,666,665 including VAT.
VIDEO LINK TO THE NEW BRIDGE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvWCetqbTEk
Animation author: InfraBIM OÜ
