In the city of Sokal, construction of a new bridge across the Western Bug River, which began in 2023, has been temporarily halted.
The main reason is the lack of funds to continue the work. This was reported by LVIV.MEDIA.
Mykola Odynotsky, deputy director of the Road Administration Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration, spoke about the situation. Currently, regional authorities are actively seeking opportunities to resume the construction process.
Reasons for the suspension of funding
Construction of the bridge on the local road “Sokal — Stoyaniv” began in 2023 at the expense of the State Road Fund. However, in the same year, the fund was liquidated, and all its funds were transferred to the general fund of the state budget to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The project is being implemented by Avtomagistral-Pivden LLC. The company received UAH 91 million and carried out part of the additional work at its own expense in order to properly preserve the facility.
“There is a portion of the work that has been completed but not paid for. The contractor simply carried out the work so that the bridge could be preserved in a technologically correct manner,” explained Mykola Odynotsky.
The Voice of Sokalshchyna has already reported that the new bridge across the Western Bug River in Sokal will be significantly wider than the previous one, and the old bridge is planned to be dismantled.
What has already been done
As of today, the following stages of construction have been completed:
- Mounted supports and beams
- Flooded overhead slab
- The coastline on one side of the crossing has been reinforced.
What remains to be done
To complete the project, it is necessary to:
- Reinforce the bank on the opposite side of the bridge
- Asphalt the crossing itself and the approaches to it
- Install fencing and lighting systems
- Transfer all engineering communications from the old structure to the new one (gas pipeline, water pipeline, internet cables, etc.)
- Dismantle the outdated crossing
Reminder: In June 2023, a tender was announced for the reconstruction of the bridge crossing over the Western Bug River in Sokal. Photo
Funding requirements
“We are seeking funds and appealing to central authorities — the Ministry and the Cabinet of Ministers — for targeted financing to complete the construction. The total amount of financial resources required is 256 million hryvnias. We cannot cover this amount from local budgets,” emphasised Mykola Odynotsky.
Information about the property
The bridge is located on the local road “Sokal – Stoyaniv” and connects the city of Sokal with the village of Zhvyryka. The old crossing was officially declared unsafe in 2019.
Technical characteristics of the new bridge:
- Length of the bridge crossing: 130 metres
- Total length with access roads: over 400 metres
- Expected value under the contract: over UAH 360 million
- Start of construction: 2023
- Planned completion date: end of 2024
The new bridge is being built next to the old structure.
As a reminder, in 2023, repairs began on the bridge in Sokal across the Western Bug River. The cost is 357 million hryvnia. The total cost of the work is 357 million hryvnia, with electronic procurement here.
The tender was announced for 360,387,707 UAH on the Prozorro portal by the Road Administration Department of the Lviv Regional State Administration.