After the signing of the contract, the RTA identified additional work required for which it accepted responsibility. It estimated this work at $38.1 million. The RTA used $3.1 million of uncommitted funds from the upfront payment, and so needed an additional $35 million. After lengthy negotiations, CCM agreed to carry out the $35 million worth of changes. In return, the RTA allowed CCM to increase the base level toll by 15 cents for cars and 30 cents for heavy vehicles.
The contract was amended to reflect this change and this is commonly referred to as the First Amendment Deed. See Exhibit 2.7. We discuss this deed and the implications of the changes to both the toll escalation formula and the base level toll in some detail in Chapter 3.
Exhibit 2.7: Changes to the base level toll | ||||
| Base toll at the signing of the contract December 2002 | Base toll after the First Amendment Deed December 2004 (retrospective change to 1999) | ||
| Cars | Heavy vehicles | Cars | Heavy vehicles |
Main tunnel Short tunnel (SJYC exit) | $2.50 $1.10 | $5.00 $2.20 | $2.65 $1.25 | $5.30 $2.50 |
Source: Audit Office research | ||||