The Sotra Connection public-private partnership (PPP) project has a combined total value of NOK19.8bn (£1.69bn), about half of which is for design and construction.
The overall contract is being led by Sotra Link, with Webuild holding a 10% stake, Macquarie Capital with 70% and SK Ecoplant at 20%. Sotra Link will operate and maintain the network for 25 years after it opens to traffic in 2027. The client is Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA).
The design and construction of the project will be carried out by an international consortium of builders including Webuild with a 35% stake, Spain’s FCC Construcción with 35% and South Korea’s SK Ecoplant with 30%.
The team was chosen by NPRA in September 2021.
The Sotra Link consortium’s work includes the financing, design, construction and multi-year maintenance of a network of roads, tunnels and bridges in Vestland county in western Norway. The work will improve travel between Bergen and the island of Sotra on the west coast.
The network to be built will include more than 9km of highway and a suspension bridge, which will be 30m wide and 900m long including access ramps. Its towers will be 144m high. There will also be a total of 12.5km of primary and secondary tunnels, as well as road and pedestrian underpasses, tunnel portals, smaller bridges and viaducts, and pedestrian and bicycle paths.
The project has a strong emphasis on sustainability, as required by the criteria set under the ‘climate budget’ at the stage of the tender process. The methods proposed by Sotra Link will reduce by a quarter the CO2 emissions foreseen during the production and supply of materials, and the construction of the network.
Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said: “The Sotra Connection PPP is the biggest project of its kind to be awarded in Europe in 2021, and one of the most important for the infrastructure sector in Norway. We will develop it as part of an international consortium that has some of the best expertise in the sector at a global level. We are enthusiastic about having the chance to take on the challenge of developing a network of roads, bridges, tunnels whose scale and complexity is reflected by the features of the main bridge with towers that will reach more than 140 metres in height, equal to a building 50-storeys tall. But it is not just about scale. There is also quality. The project will be a case of best practice in terms of innovation and sustainability, values that we share with the Norwegian Public Roads Authority along with our consortium partners and all the local and Italian businesses along the supply chain that will work with us to complete the project. Norway, where we have worked for the past 15 years, is a country that is full of opportunities that we want to seize so we can offer our global expertise to help it meet its goals of developing its infrastructure and improve its people’s lives.”
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