Skip to main content

Flagship French motorway inaugurated

The inauguration of the French Landes A63 motorway marked the culmination of 27 months of major works carried out adjacent to traffic by the economic interest group GIE A63. The road concessionaire, Atlandes, of which Egis is a shareholder, had awarded the construction contract to GIE A63, which then hired Egis for the turnkey integration of fixed and operational equipment and an 80 per cent share of the engineering, procurement and construction management. Atlandes also awarded Egis the subsequent operati
April 16, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The inauguration of the French Landes A63 motorway marked the culmination of 27 months of major works carried out adjacent to traffic by the economic interest group GIE A63. The road concessionaire, Atlandes, of which 7319 Egis is a shareholder, had awarded the construction contract to GIE A63, which then hired Egis for the turnkey integration of fixed and operational equipment and an 80 per cent share of the engineering, procurement and construction management.  Atlandes also awarded Egis the subsequent operation and maintenance of the 104 kilometre motorway.

The other members of the consortium are Colas Sud Ouest, Axmium, Spie batignolles, NGE, InfaRed and DIF A63 Luxembourg.

Egis carried out a US$33.5 million integrated engineering assignment, starting in September 2010 with a development study phase lasting nearly a year and leading to work commencement in September 2011.

The first phase of works involved building two toll stations, a maintenance centre, 16 rest and service areas, water treatment lagoons, and widening the carriageway to three lanes each way for 40 kilometres before toll operations began in April 2013. The second phase, completing the road-widening work, was successfully delivered in November 2013.

Conversion of Route Nationale (RN) 10 motorway, running in the south western French départements Gironde and Landes is a crucial step forward for the major European traffic corridor running from northern Europe into Spain and Portugal via Bordeaux.  Used by nearly 30,000 vehicles per day, including 30 per cent of heavy vehicles, the three-lane motorway complies with stringent motorway and environmental standards, including noise abatement measures, protection of water resources and the construction of 12 rest areas and four motorway service stations with capacity for 1,200 heavy goods vehicles.

Egis also supplied all the operating plant and equipment including the toll system, the motorway traffic management facilities and the road signage.  The company also manages the operation and maintenance of this new 104-km stretch of motorway through its operating subsidiary Egis Exploitation Aquitaine, which is responsible for the tolls, asset monitoring and motorway safety.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Varying acceptance of tolling in Africa
    January 6, 2016
    Tolling technology is now at an advanced state but governments have a key role in ensuring the success of schemes as is evident in Africa. Shem Oirere reports. According to the African Development Bank, the continent has an estimated $46bn of infrastructure financing deficit. The bank says sub-Saharan Africa requires $93bn annually to meet its infrastructure development needs - but only half of the financing is available.
  • Egis to operate and maintain Sydney’s WestConnex
    January 12, 2016
    Sydney Motorway Corporation (SMC), Australia, has awarded the contract for the operation and maintenance of WestConnex, Australia’s largest road infrastructure project, to Fulton Hogan Egis O&M (FHEO&M, a partnership of Egis Projects Asia Pacific and Fulton Hogan Construction. WestConnex, which is intended to significantly reduce travel times for commuters in the Sydney area is being delivered in three stages: Stage 1 (WestConnex M4) includes the widening of existing M4 motorway as well as a 5.5km tunne
  • German authorities use CB-radio message to reduce accidents in roadworks
    April 8, 2014
    Citizen Band radio is proving useful to prevent accidents in Germany’s roadworks. In common with other German Länder (federal regions) with large volumes of commercial vehicles using their trunk road networks, Bavaria had been experiencing high levels of road traffic accidents (RTAs) involving heavy trucks in the vicinity of minor motorway maintenance sites. This was despite the extensive visual warning regulations published in the German federal road safety audit (RSA) guidelines for the protection of site
  • Jeddah juggles transport needs of residents, pilgrims and tourists
    December 22, 2015
    Mass pilgrimages, new tourists and a growing population lead Jeddah to seek some smart transport solutions as David Crawford finds out. Rationalising traffic movement and public transport in a major Middle Eastern business and tourist centre that is also a gateway for millions of religious pilgrims every year is the challenge for the 20-year Jeddah Strategic Plan and the Jeddah Public Transport Programme (JPTP) it spawned. The latter is costed at US$8bn.