District Lippe Succeeds: Road Project May Be Implemented
Potholes will soon be a thing of the past in the district of Lippe. The district may implement its road project, considered unique in Germany. The two losing bidders gave up and withdrew their review procedure petitions at Award Council Detmold. They had appealed against the awarding of the project. However, after detailed review the award chamber established that the district of Lippe had fulfilled all requirements under procurement law. The award is now to be issued within the next few days.
The district of Lippe will transfer maintenance of the Lippe district roads to a bidding consortium of mid-sized companies for the next almost 25 years. It expects savings of almost 10% by using this novel model of road management. The awarded group of bidders include:
• Heinrich Walter Bau GmbH, Borken
• Wittfeld GmbH, Wallenhorst
• Lanwehr Bau GmbH & Co. KG, Warendorf
• Eiffage S.A., France
The district council in Lippe had already decided in March 2009 to issue the award. The two losing bidders, a bidding consortium from the EUROVIA Group and a group of bidders led by Kirchner Projektgesellschaft, which is part of STRABAG, appealed the award decision in the hotly contested project. However, after the hearing, both passed on a decision. They withdrew their petitions since they obviously had no chances to succeed.
"The district of Lippe would have gladly issued the award sooner. In cases of complex and innovative projects, the losing bidders will often try to improve their chances before the award council," comments Dr. Ute Jasper, Attorney and Partner at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek on the outcome of the review procedure. Jasper had provided counsel to the district in the implementation of the road project. She is pleased to continue to hold a pristine record: "So far, not a single bidder has successfully appealed a procedure in which we provided counsel. Nevertheless, the delay is annoying for the district. It is a positive effect to officially have received confirmation that a proper procedure had been carried out."