The Sotra Connection public-private partnership (PPP) project includes the financing, design, construction and multi-year maintenance of a network of roads, tunnels and bridges in western Norway. The bridge will be 30m wide and 900m long including access ramps; its towers will be 144m tall.
The network will include more than 9km of highway and 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 overall contract is being led by the Sotra Link consortium, in which Webuild holds a 10% stake, Macquarie Capital has 70% and SK Ecoplant holds 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), which chose the winning team in September 2021 (link opens in new tab).
The design and construction of the project will be undertaken by an international consortium of contractors including Italy's Webuild with a 35% stake, Spain’s FCC Construcción with 35% and South Korea’s SK Ecoplant with 30%.
The PPP contract has a combined total value of US$2.2 billion, about half of which is for design and construction. It is claimed to be Norway’s largest transport contract to date.
Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said: “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.”
