The multinational Sotra Link consortium has announced the financial closure or rather the stage in which all of the terms of a funding agreement have been met prior to the initial availability of cash, of the slightly over US$ 2.2bn Sotra Connection Project that will build and operate a network of highway assets in western Norway in a bid to improve travel, particularly between Bergen and the island of Sotra in Norway’s Vestland region.
The proposal is the largest ever for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, with the design and construction elements of the project totaling slightly over US$ 1.1bn. The mega-contract was awarded to the Sotra Link consortium that includes the Italian contractor Webuild, Australian financiers Macquarie, and the South Korean civil engineering business SK Ecoplant, in September 2021.
Under the contract, more than 9km of highway will be constructed, as well as a 30m wide and 900m long suspension bridge with access ramps and 144m high towers. 12.5 kilometers of primary and secondary tunnels will also be built, as well as road and pedestrian underpasses, tunnel portals, and smaller bridges and viaducts.
Remarks in the Sotra Connection PPP Project financial close
Webuild CEO Pietro Salini commented on the project’s financial closing, saying, “This success illustrates the long-term growth strategy that our group is pursuing in every nation where we operate, focusing on projects that are sustainable credit to innovation and competence.”
The Sotra Connection PPP is the largest project of its kind to be awarded in Europe in 2021, and one of the most significant for Norway’s infrastructure industry. We will work on it as part of an international collaboration with some of the top experience in the industry on a worldwide scale.
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The project will be a case study in best practices for innovation and sustainability, values that we share with the Norwegian Public Roads Authority, our consortium partners, and all the local and Italian businesses throughout the supply chain that will cooperate with us to execute the task.”
After it opens to traffic in 2027, the Sotra Link consortium will operate and maintain the network for the next 25 years.
