Materials Used in Construction of Trakia Motorway Lot 2 to Be Re-Tested

The materials which have been used in the construction of Lot 2 of Trakia Motorway (between Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora) will be re-tested in a specialized lab, the Deputy Minister of Regional Develiopment and Public Works, Georgi Pregyov, told a news conference Tuesday.

He said that his Ministry has alerted the National Construction Supervision Directorate about the quality of materials used for Trakia Motorway, and the Directorate has asked a laboratory to re-test samples.

The aim of the repeat check is to dispel suspicions about the quality of used materials.

In mid-March the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) demanded the resignation of Regional Development and Public Works Minister Rosen Plevneliev over - as BSP claims - the poor quality of the construction works of Trakia's Lot 2. BSP leader Sergei Stanishev said that the section in question has mine ash as a foundation, instead of the required aggregates. He provided as evidence a study BSP has done in laboratories for building materials.

Irregularities in the construction were also mentioned in an audit report that was leaked to the press earlier this month.

To ensure transparency and objectivity, samples will be taken from the site and tested in the presence of representatives of the opposition, the news media, the investor, the contractor, the construction supervision authority and the experts whose conclusions were quoted in the allegations that low-quality materials were used in Lot 2, Pregyov said.

"There will be no compromise with quality. If any omissions are found, the culprits will be held to account," he added.

The chief of the Construction Supervision Directorate, Milka Gecheva, said that they have so far issued 15 penal decrees for Lot 2 and imposed fines for a total of 93,000 leva (some of which are being contested). It was found that some of the materials used had protocols from laboratory tests but no declarations for compliance with the requirements set out in the project. It doesn't mean that the quality of the construction materials is low - it means that the site dossier is incomplete,
Gecheva explained.

There were similar findings for Lot 3 (between Nova Zagora and Yambol) but the penal decrees have not yet been issued for these.

Contractor for Lot 2 is Obedinenie Magistrala Thrace.

Strol, the company which prepared an audit report for the construction of Trakia Motorway which was leaked to the press has been hired by the Transport Ministry in its capacity as managing authority for the motorway construction project. Deputy Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski said that while the report conclusions about the administration of the project are well-grounded and action has been taken to address all problems, the technical conclusions are unfounded and none of the serious accusations are substantiated with expert and laboratory analyses.

The Ministry has sent a letter to Stol asking it to provide proofs for the conclusions in its audit report.

Stol was contracted by the previous government and it does audits for all projects funded by Operational Programme Transport.

(BTA)

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