The Council of Ministers, at its meeting today, authorized the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to tender a service contract for the conservation and exploitation of state roads in Cantabria, with an estimated value of 34.5 million euros (VAT not included).
The duration is three years, with the possibility of an extension of two years and an additional one of a maximum of nine months.
The specifications include requirements to promote energy efficiency and emission reduction and are part of the program of this Ministry to maintain the conditions of circulation, road and safety in the State Road Network (RCE), ensuring that it is accessible in the appropriate conditions to all citizens.
The works are aimed at the maintenance and conservation of 118,870 km of roads in sector No. 2, including 62,630 km of motorway, and covers several sections of the A-67 motorway and the N-611 and N-611A roads.
Next to the related roads, the contract will cover the execution of the conditioning work of the vehicle containment system on the N-611 in the vicinity of km 165 as it passes on the railway tracks.
Reduce emissions and sustainable mobility
Within the strategy of reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency, the tender documents of the conservation and exploitation contracts (COEX) of the State Road Network include objectives of mitigation and compensation of the carbon footprint, which means that companies must include in their offers the calculation of the carbon footprint that they will generate during the execution of the contract in each stretch of the road.
They will also commit to presenting a decarbonization plan in the first six months of the contract with reduction and emissions compensation measures to achieve a carbon neutral balance within 5 years from the start of the contract. The compensation can be done through the absorption projects registered in the Carbon Footprint, Compensation and Carbon Dioxide Absorption Projects, under the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, or through other options. This plan will also be included within the valuation criteria.
The aim is to reduce CO2 by 71,640 tons per year, which, according to calculations made by the General Directorate of Roads, generates the regular operation and maintenance and operation of the State Road Network and reinforces the orientation towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to which this Ministry is committed.
Conservation model characteristics
The model of mixed contracts (services and works) for the execution of conservation and exploitation operations in the State Road Network aims to offer a comprehensive service of mobility to the user, improve the state of the road and network and optimize public resources.
Through them, works are carried out to help the roads and ordinary conservation of the roads, to allow the infrastructure and its functional elements to have the best possible conditions of circulation and safety. It includes actions such as: schedule of status information and programming, operating aid and road safety studies and maintenance of road elements with adequate levels of quality.
Since 2022, energy efficiency measures have been incorporated into service facilities, such as self-consumption, renewable heating systems, energy saving measures in lighting or the implementation of electric vehicles.