Project Locks in Trollhätte Canal invited suppliers to early dialogues via the project's website and the procurement schedule. The dialogues were held 31 January–2 February 2023 at Trafikverket's premises on Lilla Marieholmsgatan in Gothenburg. Nine suppliers participated in the dialogues, which were 1.5 hours each.
During the dialogues, a slide show was presented containing information about why new locks should be built, ongoing work in the location and design and other important conditions.
Click here to see the slideshow (pdf, 4,2 MB).
The focus of the dialogues was the following discussion topics related to upcoming contracts that were mentioned in the invitation:
- Risks and uncertainties
- Liabilities/riskowner
- Project division
Summary comments from the supplier dialogues
- The participating suppliers stated that they consider the project to be a very exciting and interesting project. It is considered to have great potential to contribute to the development of employees.
- Since the project is both large and complex, it is important that information about procurement and contract division takes place in a very timely manner from Trafikverket.
- Dialogue overall was encouraged from suppliers, both before and during procurement. Having early dialogues, as this one, was considered a positive thing.
- The majority of suppliers felt it wise to divide the project into at least three contracts – one for each locality. However, there were different opinions on whether it would be beneficial to have more contracts than three, and how/what they should cover. Most suppliers viewed contracts with preparatory work positively. Even contracts on the project's final construction can be good to lay separately. This is because they are so far in the future compared to when other contracts start that it is difficult to calculate them.
- The majority of suppliers advocated some type of collaborative/partnering contracting, at least for one of the three locations. However, it was emphasized that in that case it is important not to get stuck too long in ”Phase 0” or ”Phase 1”, since the suppliers are contracting companies and not consulting firms. It may also be worth looking at the possibility of collaboratively lifting out and pricing one package at a time, so that a target price is not created for the whole. It will be easier to get along and move forward that way. An alternative to collaborative/partnering contracts can also be a model where certain major risks/uncertainties are lifted out of the contract and handled separately.
- Opinions differed on whether build only or design and build contracts were the best for the different locations.
- Overall, it was highlighted that for the project to be interesting to bid for, it is very important to have a sufficient construction time for the project.
- Handling of masses is a major challenge that needs to be addressed. Most suppliers wanted Trafikverket to handle abundant masses.
