The first, known as Corridor 8, is an east-west route connecting the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea through Albania, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria.
The second, Corridor 10d, is a key component of the Pan-European Transport Corridor 10, connecting Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Greece.
When construction of the new motorways (together totalling 110 kilometres in length) starts later this year it will be North Macedonia’s largest infrastructure project.
“The construction of these motorways is of incredible importance for the improvement and modernisation of our infrastructure,” said prime minister Dimitar Kovačevski at the signing ceremony in North Macedonia on Wednesday, 8th March.
“These two corridors will create a vital link for our regional transport system and make the country more visible for foreign investment.”
Mark Allison, general manager of Bechtel’s heavy civil infrastructure business, said: “We are delighted to work with the North Macedonian Government on this exciting new transport project that will improve connectivity in the region and expand the local economy.
“Bechtel-Enka has a long history of successfully delivering complex motorway projects in the region, and we take our responsibility to maintain the highest possible standards very seriously,” added Allison.
Bechtel-Enka’s contract places an obligation on the contractor to maximise the employment of local workers and the use of local suppliers. Training programmes are being planned to support the long-term supply of skilled workers for these and subsequent infrastructure projects.
Bechtel-Enka has worked on major infrastructure projects in the region since the 1990s, including Kosovo’s Route 7 motorway and motorways in Albania, Croatia, Turkey, and Romania.
So far the joint venture has built more than 28,000 kilometres of highways and roads, 100 tunnels, and 26 major bridges.
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