September 24, 2008

Infrastructure

Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C. signs 35-year partnership agreement

PETER KENTER

correspondent

mONTREAL

The Governments of Canada and Quebec have signed a 35-year partnership agreement with Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C. for the design, construction, financing, operation, maintenance and repair of Highway 30.

The project is designed to provide Greater Montreal with a southern bypass to relieve traffic congestion on the Island of Montreal. The private partner will also be responsible for maintaining, operating and repairing about 32 kilometres of roads, under a traditional arrangement, for the same contract period.

Nouvelle Autoroute 30, S.E.N.C. is comprised of Acciona Concessions Canada Inc., Iridium Concessions Canada Inc., Acciona Infrastructures Canada Inc., Dragados Canada Inc., S.I.C.E., Arup Canada Inc., Construction DJL Inc. and Verreault Inc.

“This PPP project will ensure that the work is done on schedule and without any cost overruns,” says Monique Jérôme-Forget, Quebec Minister of Finance.

“This approach will provide the best value for Quebeckers.”

Construction is expected to begin next year, with completion anticipated in 2012.

The highway has already been partially constructed with various segments completed as early as 1968. The 42-kilometre western section that forms this project extends from Vaudreuil-Dorion to Châteauguay and includes a section that connects to Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. A 13-kilometre eastern section, south of Candiac, Delson and Saint-Constant, is currently being completed under a traditional contract by Transport Quebec.

New construction will join all of the segments into one continuous route. The project is expected to generate 18,900 jobs, with about two-thirds of them directly related to construction.

“The construction work for the 42-kilometre, two-lane stretch is budgeted at approximately $1.5 billion,” says Miguel Sanchez Praena, Project Manager with Acciona USA.

“Some of the more interesting elements of the construction include two important bridges.

“One of them is 1,860 metres long over the St. Lawrence River and the other is 2,550 metres long over the Beauharnois Canal.”

Other projected structural features include overpasses, underpasses, a tunnel of 72 metres under Soulanges Canal, and more than 12 junctions with other freeways and roads.

“At this point we’re going trough a massive number of legal documents, deeds for the lenders, credit agreements, consortium agreements and all of the paperwork leading up to the signing of the contract,” says Paul Fournier, Project Director for Autoroute 30.

Although the original proposal for the highway specifies asphalt construction, unstable oil prices may change those specs.

“If there’s an economy in switching to concrete in the final proposal, we’ll benefit from those gains,” says Fournier.

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