Weather Stations in Bulgaria – Selection of Contractor for Building an Automated Data Collection and Analysis System for Weather Conditions and Road Surface Monitoring

This public procurement contract involves the construction of an Automated Data Collection and Analysis System for weather conditions and road surface monitoring (the System). This will be achieved through the delivery, installation, and commissioning of eight (8) weather stations along the road section "Sofia – Haskovo – Kapitan Andreevo". The stations will measure wind speed and direction, temperature above and below the road surface, precipitation intensity, and water level on the road, providing alerts for hazardous situations such as freezing, icing, fog, and strong winds. The network of weather stations will enable accurate forecasting of road conditions and will alert the Road Infrastructure Agency (API) of any changes in weather. The System will utilize the high-speed 5G communication established under the project acronym 23-EU-DIG-5GTRACKS. The 5GTRACKS project has been approved for funding under the Connecting Europe Facility 2 program, and the Grant Agreement with the European Commission was signed on November 20, 2024. The project involves deploying a high-speed 5G network along part of the Orient/East Mediterranean transport corridor on both sides of the Bulgaria-Greece border, covering the sections: Plovdiv - Haskovo – Border Checkpoint Kapitan Andreevo – Kipoi – Komotini – Kavala - Thessaloniki. Project partners include mobile operators Vivacom Bulgaria EAD, Nova (Greece), United Fiber (Greece), and API. API's role as a project partner and beneficiary involves the construction and commissioning of the Automated Data Collection System for weather conditions and road surface monitoring along the "Sofia – Haskovo – Kapitan Andreevo" road section, through the delivery and installation of eight weather stations. The System is designed to monitor and analyze real-time data on weather and road surface conditions, providing information on changes in weather conditions, particularly adverse weather and climate conditions, ensuring safe and functional roads. By integrating modern sensor technologies and communication networks, the System automatically collects and transmits data from the weather stations on temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, and precipitation. Additionally, the System will monitor the condition of the road surface, including road conditions and surface temperature. Special sensors for measuring road water salinity will help predict and recalculate the freezing point. The Technical Requirements for the execution of the contract, presented in Appendix A of the participation documentation, list the mandatory key indicators to be measured, as well as additional indicators that can provide more detailed information about road conditions. Requirements for basic functionalities and minimum standards for the weather sensors and road condition sensors that the weather stations must be equipped with are specified. All sensors will be connected to the API's central server, which collects, stores, and analyzes the data and maintains communication between the individual components. The monitoring software will process the data and will have the functionality to send real-time reported information. The weather stations will be powered by the electrical grid and will utilize the established 5G communication. The coordinates for the installation of the eight weather stations will be located on API properties and on already constructed suitable facilities, as specified in Appendix A - Technical Requirements for the execution of the contract, which contains a list of GPS coordinates for the locations of the weather stations. *Note: A detailed description of the subject of the public procurement is provided in the Technical Requirements for the execution of the contract (Appendix A), attached to the public procurement documentation!