- CONCESSION: The public-private partnership project entails a 50-year concession
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) has selected ACCIONA (30%)—in a joint venture with Plenary Americas (40%) and Sacyr (30%)—for exclusive negotiations to sign a concession contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new Calcasieu River bridge for 50 years, part of the Interstate 10 (I-10) highway in Louisiana (USA), which connects the towns of Lake Charles and Westlake along a nine-kilometer stretch. The US$2.1 billion (€1.9 billion) project will include the replacement of the existing bridge, which is more than 70 years old.
The project’s construction, to be executed by a joint venture between ACCIONA (50%) and Sacyr (50%), will include the reconstruction of six lanes of the interstate highway, the building of several adjacent structures, the implementation of a free-flow tolling system and the removal of the existing bridge.
The current bridge has only two lanes—insufficient for an estimated daily traffic of 55,000 vehicles—as well as sharp curves on the east side, a narrow layout and a steep slope.
This contract is ACCIONA’s second concession in the United States, after being awarded in 2021 the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the flood prevention channel between Fargo (North Dakota) and Moorhead (Minnesota). This is the first climate resilience project and the first example of green financing in the country.
INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
ACCIONA has vast experience in the concession sector, especially in transport and social infrastructure. Throughout its history, the company has developed dozens of public-private partnership projects in countries such as Spain, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
In the construction of bridges, ACCIONA is an expert in projects designed to counter the climate emergency, exploring innovative engineering solutions for any orographic condition. The company has built more than 600 bridges around the world using sustainable and efficient techniques, which reflect its innovative capability.
ACCIONA has designed and built bridges, footbridges and arched, cable-stayed or suspension viaducts, with concrete, metal or mixed materials. To do so, it uses construction methods such as the use of prefabricated beams and works with successive cantilevers or push-launch construction, for which it has its own patented system.
The company has carried out numerous signature projects, such as the Ting-Kau bridge in Hong Kong, the Beauharnois Canal bridge in Canada, the Sant Boi bridge on the Madrid-Barcelona high-speed railway and, most recently, the Cebu cable-stayed bridge in the Philippines.