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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.

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