The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has awarded a service contract for the execution of various conservation and exploitation operations on State roads in Cantabria, with an award amount of 13,903,895 euros (VAT included).
The duration of the contract is three years and three months, with the possibility of an extension of one year and nine months and an additional one for a maximum of nine months.
This contract includes requirements to promote energy efficiency and emission reduction and is part of the program of the Ministry of Transport to maintain traffic, road and safety conditions in the State Road Network (RCE), ensuring that it is accessible in the appropriate conditions to all citizens.
The works are intended for the maintenance and conservation of 159,350 km of roads in sector No. 3, includes 41 km on the A-8 motorway (from km 231,750 to 273,500) and several sections of the N-621, N-621A and N-634 roads.
Together with these, the contract will cover the Valdáliga service areas and other functional elements or public services associated with them, as well as the execution of the restoration work of the firm on the N-621 in San Glorio, in the stretch between km 121,650 and 146,250.
What's new in the sheets
Thus, within the strategy of reducing emissions and improving energy efficiency, the Ministry has included objectives of mitigation and compensation of the carbon footprint in the tender documents of the conservation and exploitation contracts (COEX) of the State Road Network, 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 Register, compensation and carbon dioxide absorption projects, under the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. 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 the Ministry is committed.
Conservation model characteristics
The new 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.
In 2022, energy efficiency measures were incorporated into service facilities, such as self-consumption, renewable heating systems, energy saving measures in lighting or the implementation of electric vehicles.