No company bid to build disputed bobsleigh track in Cortina for 2026 Winter Olympics

At the deadline of 31 July, no company participated in the tender for the construction of the expensive and contested bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track which should be built in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in the province of Belluno, for the 2026 Winter Olympics to be held in Veneto and Lombardy. SIMICO, the Milano Cortina 2026 Infrastructure Company which has been entrusted with the management of the Olympic infrastructures, has released a note to confirm that no offers have been submitted.

In the last two years, the construction of the new facility and services for teams, journalists and spectators had been questioned due to the high cost, the impact on the environment and the maintenance costs to be faced in the future, after the Olympics. The Italian Olympic Committee and the Veneto Region have always maintained that the new track could not be renounced, despite the considerable expense. According to the most recent estimates, the runway and all related services would cost a total of 93 million euros, but in early February the president of Veneto Luca Zaia had said that the costs could have increased up to 120 million euros.

Over the past two years, many delays have accumulated, imposing a very tight schedule. The demolition of the old track began in March to meet the deadlines in view of the tender, which however did not go as hoped. SIMICO has announced that with the closing of the tender, a negotiated procedure has begun, i.e. the search on the market for companies capable of building the new runway. These will be asked for an offer, and the most economically advantageous one will be chosen, provided that the search is successful.

In any case, whoever will be called upon to build the runway will have to do it quickly. The track must be operational by December 2024 for the so-called “test event”, i.e. the trial competitions that are usually held at least a year before the Olympics.

– Read also: The expensive and contested bobsleigh track in Cortina

2023-07-31 15:16:18
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