Prague wins legal battle over Blanka Tunnel costs

The Czech capital Prague will not have to pay €63 million to construction firm CKD Praha DIZ for cost overruns on the Blanka Tunnel complex.

CKD Praha DIZ sought the amount over an alleged rise in costs when completion of the tunnel was delayed, according to a report by Radio Praha.

A court of arbitration also ruled that the company must pay the city’s legal costs of around €630,000. The court’s decisions are binding and final.

The 6.4km Blanka Tunnel complex is a part of Prague’s unfinished ring road system and is the longest road tunnel in the Czech Republic and the longest city tunnel in Europe. Just under 40km of the 83km Ring Road are complete.

The tunnel, which connects the area west of Prague Castle with Trója district in the northeast, consists of three tunnels - Bubenečský, Dejvický and Brusnický. Construction started in 2006 and completion was supposed to be 2011.

However, delays put the opening date back to September last year and doubled the overall cost to around €1.6 billion.

A survey by Prague’s Technical Administration of Roadways recently found that on averages 75,000 vehicles use the Blanka tunnel daily.