Bidding Announcement for the Main Works Construction Project of the Wuxi–Yixing Expressway Expansion Project (Xueyan Hub to Xiwu Hub Section)

I. Project Overview

Overall Project Overview:

The Wuxi–Yixing Expressway is an important trunk highway in the Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou metropolitan area, connecting Wuxi and Yixing, and is also an important component of the "Horizontal Line 9" Taicang–Gaochun expressway corridor in the Jiangsu Provincial Expressway Network Layout Plan. The project was completed and opened to traffic in 2003, with an original design speed of 100 km/h and a subgrade width of 26 m. In recent years, with the rapid growth of traffic volume and the continuous improvement of the regional road network, the existing technical conditions will be unable to meet future traffic demand. Accelerating the implementation of the Wuxi–Yixing Expressway expansion project is of great significance for enhancing the service capacity of the expressway network, ensuring safe and smooth operation of the road network, strengthening the connection among Wuxi, Changzhou and Yixing, improving traffic conditions in the Taihu Lake Rim area, and promoting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region and the development of the Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou metropolitan area.

The project scope starts at the north side of Xueyan Hub, which intersects with the Suzhou–Wuxi–Changzhou South Expressway, passes through Wujin District of Changzhou City and Yixing City, and ends at Xiwu Hub, which intersects with the Nanjing–Hangzhou Expressway. The total route length is approximately 35.735 km, with an estimated investment of approximately RMB 7.75 billion. The entire line will be expanded to an eight-lane expressway standard, with a design speed of 120 km/h and a subgrade width of 42 m for the integral section. A total of 6 interchanges will be expanded in situ along the entire line: Xueyan Hub, Caoqiao, Wanshi Hub, Qiting, Yixing West, and Xiwu Hub. One Yixing Service Area (including gas station and maintenance work area) will be expanded in situ.

Overview of This Bidding Project:

This bidding project is the main works construction project of the Wuxi–Yixing Expressway Expansion Project (Xueyan Hub to Xiwu Hub Section), comprising 4 sections in total, namely Sections XYK-1, XYK-2, XYK-3 and XYK-5.

① Section XYK-1 has a chainage range of K135+276.995–K142+000.000, with a length of 6.723 km. Main work points: Xueyan Hub and Caoqiao Interchange;

② Section XYK-2 has a chainage range of K142+000.000–K149+000.000, with a length of 7.000 km. Main work point: Wanshi Hub;

③ Section XYK-3 has a chainage range of K149+000.000–K154+793.396, with a length of 5.793 km. Main work point: Qiting Interchange;

④ Section XYK-5 has a chainage range of K162+140.000–K171+012.326, with a length of 8.872 km. Main work points: Yixing West Interchange, Xigui Bridge and Xiwu Hub.

Scope of Bidding:

The scope of bidding covers, within the chainage range of each section: surface clearing; bridge reinforcement and demolition; demolition of existing protection and drainage facilities; demolition of signboards and foundations; demolition and relocation of isolation fences; demolition of some guardrails; subgrade earthwork and rockwork; ground treatment; slope protection and drainage (including chutes); bridges and culverts (excluding steel structure fabrication; for Sections XYK-1, XYK-2, XYK-3 and XYK-5, the precasting of girders, slabs and bridge deck slabs (if any) is already included in Section XYK-HW-YZL1); extension of transverse drainage pipes; subgrade and pavement of separated crossings; road, ditch and channel relocations; traffic organization and temporary traffic maintenance within the construction scope; earthwork for building areas and earthwork for landscaping terrain improvement in interchange areas; greening construction on slopes, inside and outside side ditches, and in interchange areas; reserved and embedded facilities for traffic engineering; and subgrade, pavement and traffic safety facilities of some intersecting roads.

Planned Construction Period:

Affected by preliminary work, there are uncertainties regarding the commencement time of this project. From the signing of the contract until the main works are ready to commence, the contractor shall, according to the actual project conditions, prepare the construction organization design, prepare special construction schemes for hazardous and major works, reasonably allocate personnel and machinery/equipment to be mobilized as needed, and carry out the construction of the "three plants and one office", access roads and temporary bridges, girder and slab precasting, and partial subgrade soil stockpiling.

Construction preparation period: November 2023 to January 31, 2024. During this period, the contractor shall, as needed, reasonably allocate personnel and machinery/equipment to be mobilized, complete the construction of the "three plants and one office", the excavation of side ditches for "road-field separation", the construction of access roads and temporary bridges, and the construction of part of the subgrade and bridges within the land area of the original Wuxi–Yixing Expressway, and shall complete subgrade soil stockpiling of at least 15% of the total earthwork volume (bidders shall fully consider in their bid prices the temporary land costs required to complete the above soil stockpiling work during the construction preparation period; such costs are included in the bid price and will not be measured and paid separately).

Formal construction period: approximately 39 months. Formal construction is planned to start on February 1, 2024, subject to the formal notice of the Employer.

Defects liability period: 24 months.

II. Obtaining the Bidding Documents

All prospective bidders are requested to, from 18:00 on October 23, 2023 to 18:00 on October 30, 2023, log in to the "Jiangsu Transportation Bidding and Tendering Trading Platform" via the Internet using a CA digital certificate, click "Reservation Management" under "Bidding and Tendering Management" on the left side of the homepage (please be sure to leave a mobile phone number when "applying for reservation" for contact purposes), specify the section(s) to be bid for, and download the bidding documents. If a bidder bids in the form of a consortium, the consortium leader shall make a reservation on the "Jiangsu Transportation Bidding and Tendering Trading Platform (Jiangsu Provincial Public Resources Trading Center)" and invite the member units.

III. Submission of Bids

The deadline for uploading bids is: 10:00 on November 15, 2023;

The deadline for decryption of bids is: 11:00 on November 15, 2023.

(1) Bids shall be encrypted. Before the deadline for uploading bids, bidders shall log in to the "Jiangsu Transportation Bidding and Tendering Trading Platform (Jiangsu Provincial Public Resources Trading Center)" via the Internet using a CA digital certificate, upload the encrypted bids, and save the electronic receipt voucher automatically generated by the system after successful upload. The submission time shall be the time of the electronic receipt voucher.

(2) A public bid opening is scheduled at the same time as the above deadline for uploading bids at the Jiangsu Provincial Public Resources Trading Center (Address: 3rd Floor, Phase II, No. 145 Hanzhongmen Street, Jianye District, Nanjing). Bids that are not uploaded by the deadline or are not encrypted as required shall be rejected by the Tenderee.

(3) This project adopts bid opening without face-to-face attendance. Bidders do not need to go to the bid opening site, but must complete remote decryption of their bids before the deadline for bid decryption.

Tenderee: Anhui Provincial Transportation Control Construction Management Co., Ltd.

Release Date: October 23, 2023

Release Platform: Anhui Hefei Public Resources Trading Center