Re-tendering for Private Operator of Daejeon Bomunsan Cable Car

Daejeon City is set to reannounce the public bid for the ‘Bomunsan Cable Car and Observation Tower Construction Project.’

According to Daejeon City on the 15th, the original plan for this project was for a private business operator to install both the cable car and the observation tower, with the public bid conducted until the 30th of last month.

However, only one company participated alone in the bid, and even that company failed to pass the preliminary qualification review because their proposal included only the cable car installation without the mandatory observation tower construction.

Example data of Daejeon Bomunsan Cable Car route. Provided by Daejeon City.

Daejeon City analyzed that private business operators who showed interest at the project briefing session in August did not actually participate in the bid due to the downturn in the construction market and capital markets. It was understood that private operators felt burdened by having to handle both the cable car and the observation tower, which practically prevented them from entering the bid.

Accordingly, Daejeon City changed the mandatory observation tower construction to a voluntary proposal by private operators, prioritizing the cable car installation first and sequentially promoting the observation tower construction based on the private operators’ proposals.

The plan is to reduce the burden of building the observation tower to encourage many companies to participate in the cable car installation, and to award additional points if the observation tower construction is proposed during the re-bid.

The re-bid period is from the 15th of this month to the 29th of next month. After the bid closes, Daejeon City plans to select a preferred negotiator in January next year through a review by a selection committee composed of experts from specialized institutions and university professors in related fields.

No Gi-su, Director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau of Daejeon City, said, “As the burden on private operators has been reduced, we expect many specialized companies to show interest in the re-bid. The observation tower will be proceeded sequentially after reviewing proposals from private operators and deciding whether to hold a separate public bid for the observation tower.”

Meanwhile, the Daejeon Bomunsan Cable Car and Observation Tower Construction Project is being promoted as a catalyst project of the ‘Bomulsan Project.’

The ‘Bomulsan Project’ aims to connect the entire Bomunsan area for tourism by attracting private investment for the cable car, observation tower, water park, and other facilities, linking Haengpyeong District (O-World), Daesa District (Wood Culture Experience Center, etc.), and Sajung District (sports facilities, etc.) from O-World to Daesa District.

The cable car extension in Bomunsan is approximately 3.5 km, and the route and intermediate stations will be decided based on private business operator proposals considering forest conditions and project feasibility.

The total estimated project cost for the cable car construction, including the observation tower, is 150 billion KRW, and the private operator must bear all costs for securing and developing the project site.

Additionally, according to the Public Property and Goods Management Act, the operator must donate the facilities and project site upon project completion.

However, after completion, the operator can operate the facilities for up to 20 years by obtaining free use and profit permission from Daejeon City.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.