A-Lanes A15 is a consortium comprising Strukton, Ballast Nedam, John Laing and Strabag. The consortium's sustainable solutions for designing, building, financing and maintaining infrastructures will guarantee maximum traffic flow and safety on the Maasvlakte - Vaanplein section of the A15, both during and after construction works.
The A15 is an important link between the expanding Rotterdam port and industrial region and its European hinterland. The contract has a duration of 25 years and a total nominal project valuation of around € 1.5 billion. The A15 Maasvlakte-Vaanplein project is thus the largest project ever put out for tender by Rijkswaterstaat (Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management).
Description of Project
The project consists of expanding capacity and managing around 37 km of the A15 national road between Maasvlakte and the Vaanplein interchange. The capacity expansion comprises:
- Building additional lanes and traffic management systems, so that traffic flow and safety on the A15 are significantly improved.
- The construction of a new moveable bridge over the Oude Maas to replace the current Botlek Bridge, eliminating a shipping bottleneck. The new Botlek Bridge will have two passages for shipping, each of around 90 metres, and rises around 14 metres above water level. That is twice as high as the current bridge carrying the intersecting road and rail traffic, meaning that the new bridge will have to be opened less often. The new Botlek Bridge, which can be opened to a height of 45 metres, will be one of the largest moveable bridges in the world when complete.
- The management and maintenance of the A15, including technical systems, the bridges and viaducts, and two road tunnels (Botlek and Thomassen).
Schedule
- Initial months of 2011: execution of the initial preparatory works, such as securing permits, rerouting cables and conduits and establishing construction sites.
- End 2011: launch of the initial works visible to residents and road users.
- End 2015: scheduled hand-over. Maintenance contract with a duration of 20 years commences.
DBFM Contract
The project was put out for tender Europe-wide and is being executed in the shape of a DBFM agreement (Design, Buid, Finance and Maintain). This means that A-Lanes A15 is responsible not only for the complete design and execution of the A15 project, but also for the financing and management and maintenance of all existing and new infrastructure over a period of 20 years. This approach results in optimum costs over the operating life. All the components are integrated into a single contract and are designed, financed, executed and managed by one and the same company in a system of mutual coherence.
Consortium A-Lanes A15
Ballast Nedam, John Laing, Strabag and Strukton have significant partners in the consortium, among them:
- Croon Elektrotechniek, for specialist tunnel and traffic systems
- Oranjewoud Engineering Practice, for expert traffic flow analyses
- Architects Quist Wintermans, for designing the new Botlek Bridge.
Supplemented with legal, financial and insurance expertise provided by Allen & Overy, the team BNP Paribas / RebelGroup and Marsh respectively.
The Strukton operating companies involved are:
Strukton Integrale Projecten
Strukton Civiel