An Italian company, Polictecnica Ingigneria e Architettura Ltd, has been awarded a contract worth over Lm475,000/EUR1 million for consultancy services on the consolidation of the Mdina Bastions.

Five companies submitted a bid for the tender, which closed on 8 May, that called for the provision of geotechnical engineering consultancy services and project management services in connection with the consolidation of the fragile terrain underlying the bastion walls and historical places in Mdina.

These were Rock Soil Spa, Politecnica Ingegnria e Architettura, Economic and Management Consult Services Ltd, Innovative Architectural Structures Ltd and S&A Quality Assurance Surveyors/Geodata Spa.

The project is EU funded and amounts to Lm600,000/EUR1.4 million excluding VAT.

A bid bond of Lm12,000/EUR27,713 was also presented with the offers.

After the technical evaluation only three bidders were found to comply with the criteria: Politecnica Ingeneria e Architettura, Innovative Architecural Structures Ltd and S&A Quality Assurance Surveyors/Geodata Spa.

The winning company offered the most advantageous bid at Lm475,000/EUR 1 million, while Innovative Architectural Structures Ltd offered Lm448,500/EUR1,035,796 million and S&A Quality Assurance/Geodata Spa offered Lm585,994/EUR1,353,334.

The adjudication and choice of the selected bidder was based on the most economical advantageous tender (MEAT) system, which is established by weighing the technical quality against price on a 70/30 basis.

The programme of work will be spread over a period of 48 months and should start in the coming months.