Rijkswaterstaat has Named A-Lanes A15 Preferred Bidder for PPP Project to Increase Capacity of Motorway A15

NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands, September 14, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management of the Netherlands Rijkswaterstaat has named A-Lanes A15 - a joint venture between Ballast Nedam, John Laing, Strabag and Strukton - preferred bidder for the public-private partnership (PPP) project A15 Maasvlakte - Vaanplein (MaVa). A-Lanes A15 has submitted the most economical bid for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the capacity expansion for motorway A15. The A15 is a major arterial road between the expanding port and industrial area of Rotterdam and the European hinterland. The contract has a term of 25 years and represents a total project value of approximately EUR 1.5 billion. This makes the A15 MaVa project the single largest infrastructure project that was ever awarded by The Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management.

Project description

The project involves the capacity expansion and management of approximately 37 km of motorway A15, between the outer port Maasvlakte and the Vaanplein junction. The capacity expansion comprises:

    - The construction of extra traffic lanes and the installation of traffic
      management systems in order to significantly improve the smooth flow of
      traffic and the safety on the A15;

    - The construction of a new movable bridge to replace the current Botlek
      bridge across the river Old Maas that will eliminate a bottle neck for
      marine traffic. The new Botlek bridge will be equipped with two
      navigation spans of approximately 90 m each, and is located
      approximately 14 m above the water. This is twice as high as the
      current bridge for the crossing road- and rail traffic, which means
      that the new bridge will not need to be opened as frequently. The new
      Botlek bridge, which can open up to a height of 45 m, will become one
      of the largest movable bridges in the world.

    - The management and maintenance of the A15, including technical
      installations, the bridges and viaducts, and two road tunnels (Botlek
      and Thomassen).

Planning

The coming period until the end of 2010 will focus on finalisation and formalisation of the contracts and financing. The construction work on the track will start mid-2011 and is expected to be completed before end of 2015.

DBFM Agreement

The project has been subject to a European tender procedure and will be carried out as a DBFM Agreement (Design, Build, Finance and Maintain), meaning that A-Lanes A15 will not only be responsible for the complete design and construction of the A15 project, but also for the financing and the management and maintenance of all existing and new infrastructure, until 20 years after it has become available.

This approach will result in optimum lifetime costs. All components have been integrated into one single contract and will be designed, financed, carried out and managed coherently by one and the same party.

For A-lanes A15, consisting of Ballast Nedam, John Laing, Strabag and Strukton as principal partners, Croon Elektrotechniek is an important partner for the specialist technical tunnel and traffic management installations. An international team of expert companies was put together for this project, including Oranjewoud for traffic analyses. The architect firm Quist Wintermans Architekten has designed the new Botlek bridge, amongst other things. This broad expertise is completed with the know-how of legal, financial and insurance experts from respectively Allen & Overy and the tandem BNP Paribas / RebelGroup and Marsh.

John Laing participates for 28% as shareholder in A-Lanes A15. Ballast Nedam, Strabag and Strukton participate for 24% each as shareholders in A-Lanes A15 and all three have a stake of one third in the design, build and maintain phases.

SOURCE Ballast Nedam NV