The Andalusian Government has awarded a contract for the maintenance of 650 kilometres of regional roads in the province of Almería worth more than 15 million euros (€15,166,819), which guarantees the maintenance of thirty roads in Almería over the next three years, as well as major communication routes such as the A-92, the A-92N and the Almanzora Motorway.
The Department of Public Works, Land Management and Housing distributes maintenance services in 36 territorial areas. Four cover the entire road network of the province of Almería and, of these, three have recently been awarded contracts for more than 15 million. The UTE formed by Servicios Técnicos Navieros SL and Lirola Ingenierías y Obras will be responsible for more than 5.3 million euros for the maintenance tasks of 204 kilometers of the North zone, which serves two highways such as the Almanzora highway or the 37 kilometers of A-92N in the province, as well as the communications of municipalities such as Chirivel, Vélez-Rubio, Olula del Río , Huércal Overa, Cantoria or Albox , among others.
The maintenance of the eastern zone has also been awarded to Fircosa Desarrollo for 4.3 million euros. This is 217 kilometres that connect territories such as Antas, Garrucha, Vera or Cuevas del Almanzora. Finally, Construcciones Nila will guarantee the road system for 5.5 million euros of the 227 kilometres of the central zone, whose operations centre is located in Fiñana, next to the A-92, and which covers municipalities such as Abla, Doña María, Nacimiento, Serón , Olula de Castro, Tabernas or Serón , to name a few.
The Department of Public Works, Land Management and Housing has carried out this contracting process to avoid a repeat of the situation experienced at the beginning of 2019, when, as soon as the Government of Juanma Moreno came to power, it found that most of the road network maintenance contracts had expired or were about to expire and there was no possibility of applying for an extension. The three lots in the province of Almería are, in fact, part of the first batch for the renewal of all the contracts that ensure the road conditions of the more than 10,500 kilometres of road network.
The new contracts will be valid for three years plus a possible extension of two more, with a significant increase in the budget. The lots have two new features compared to the previous ones. The first is that Andalusia already includes the ordinary price review in accordance with the modification of the Law on Public Sector Contracts published in May of last year. This possibility, already included in a general manner for new service contracts, is also added to the exceptional review of conservation prices carried out during 2023, which was in response to a request from the sector, which requested an increase in the items to compensate for the rise in the costs of materials.
In addition, improvements have been introduced in these contracts in terms of employment, which will help the companies awarded the contract to meet their salary obligations with the staff of the conservation services with guarantees. In this regard, not only is a good service defended 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but also decent conditions for the staff of the Conservation services.
Conservation work is essential to ensure that mobility on Andalusian roads continues to be carried out in conditions of comfort and road safety for users, and involves carrying out a set of interventions of very diverse types: such as road surface repairs, improvements to verges, cleaning, replacement and placement of vertical signage and beaconing elements, repainting road markings, repairing masonry works, protecting or, where appropriate, reconstructing ditches or water courses; repairing and placing defence elements or enclosure fences; improving margins or stabilizing slopes or controlling vegetation. Lastly, interventions are included in exceptional cases that require the immediate intervention of these teams.
The purpose of maintenance operations services is to ensure that roads are in normal road conditions and safety. To this end, the successful bidders will firstly carry out all activities and operations to assist road conditions, repair damaged elements and assist operation. This section includes the maintenance of the general facilities necessary to carry out maintenance and operation services.