Construction Tender Competition for Two Railway Viaducts

The Neugut Viaduct begins at the small Sagentobel River, crosses a main road (Überlandstrasse) and the Glatt River and then divides before reaching ground level in an industrial area. The main bridge, which is approximately 920 m long, has two railway tracks both ramps being some 600 m in length, and an elevated approach of some 260 m. The Weidenholz Viaduct, starts at the edge of small wood at Aegert between Kriesbachstrasse and the six-lane Federal Highway N1, crosses the N1 at an acute angle and descends into an industrial area. It is appropriate to ask if the conditions in such railway viaducts as Neugut and Weidenholz, which did not create opportunities for important project variations, were such that a submission competition rather than a limited project competition or a fixed contract approach needed organising. The solutions proposed were interesting and diverse both financially and from the construction point of view; they offered the owner a true alternative.