Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute launches innovative pilot project with Heuking to renovate locks while under operation

Advised by Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute is entering entirely new technical and legal territory. In a pilot project, it is developing and testing various special structural engineering procedures to repair locks under operation in practice. The new procedures will serve to repair up to 200 single-chamber locks during ongoing navigation operations and to avoid multi-year lock closures in the future.

The project for the Oberesslingen lock is fully focusing on innovation to incorporated the design and construction companies’ expertise into the project in the best possible way right from the beginning. The award procedure is also tailor-made: In an innovative partnering package model, the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute will award the design and construction services as a package to a total contractor, which will then be carried out in collaboration between client and contractor.

As alternatives to conventional construction methods, the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute previously developed the civil engineering methods to be tested for drainage, demolition, and concrete reprofiling jointly with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration.

“The Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute intends to experiment. Public procurement law and contract law provides the necessary tools – if the project is customized,” Ute Jasper, Team Leader at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, pointed out. “The award procedure is already designed in a way that allows the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute to use bidders’ ideas for the project via proposals to optimize results and by negotiations,” said Kirstin van de Sande, who is responsible for public procurement law in the procedure. “The contract will be designed in several stages to ensure innovative and partnership-based performance,” added Christopher Marx, who is responsible for contract design.

Jointly with the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute, Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek designs the project and award structure and supports the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute and the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration in the complex award procedure, including planning and construction. The Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute relies on Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s team for all Europe-wide awards.

Counsel: Dr. Ute Jasper (Project Management and Team Leader “Public Sector & Public Procurement”), Kirstin van de Sande (Public Procurement), Dr. Christopher Marx (Contract Law), all Düsseldorf.

Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek’s “Public Sector & Public Procurement” department has been one of the market leaders in public procurement law for years. Its lawyers hold top spots in German and international lawyer rankings. Since 1991, they have advised on awards, restructuring, large-scale projects, and cooperations in the public sector and have accompanied several hundred large-scale projects of federal, state, and local authorities and their subsidiaries with a total volume in excess of EUR 40 billion without any procedure having been successfully challenged to date.

Dr. Ute Jasper is one of the most renowned lawyers for procurement and infrastructure projects in the public sector. She advises federal and state ministries, municipalities, and businesses, particularly on innovative and complex projects. Ute Jasper is a Partner at the law firm of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek where she heads the “Public Sector & Public Procurement” department. For years, she has been ranked number 1 in Public Procurement Law with her team in JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms. According to “Law Firms in Germany,” she is the “premier contact on the market” for infrastructure. In October 2016, she received the JUVE Award for Regulated Industries with her team.

Kirstin van de Sande, Partner, focuses on designing and implementing complex award procedures in the “Public Sector & Public Procurement” practice group.

Dr. Christopher Marx, Partner and member of the “Public Sector & Public Procurement” practice group, is a specialist for the drafting of contracts under civil law in complex award procedures.

Find more information about the pilot project on the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute website here.