Strasbourg bypass surveys halted over environmental concerns

Further delays are looming for construction of the western Strasbourg bypass, a controversial toll motorway project in north eastern France. The government is concerned about environmental issues after Arcos, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Vinci responsible for building the bypass, said it was going to carry out field surveys in 1.5 hectares of what many consider environmentally sensitive areas.
September 27, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Further delays are looming for construction of the western Strasbourg bypass, a controversial toll motorway project in north eastern France.


The government is concerned about environmental issues after Arcos, the wholly-owned subsidiary of 5177 Vinci responsible for building the bypass, said it was going to carry out field surveys in 1.5 hectares of what many consider environmentally sensitive areas.

The project, which Arcos estimates at €553 million, is likely headed for a public inquiry towards the end of the year, according to media reports, with a construction start sometime in 2018.

In late 2015, French construction group Vinci’s consortium was named preferred bidder for the project. The win for Vinci came two years after winning the same contract, but which was cancelled over a lack of secure financing.

The 24km project is officially the tolled A355 Grand Contournement Ouest, a public-private partnership deal.

World Highways reported in March 2012 that the project was expected to cost up to €756 million, compared with the original estimate of €400 million quoted during the call to tender in 2009.

Construction was to have started in 2013 for opening by early 2017 at the latest.

Connected Construction

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Restart for Slovakia’s Čebrať tunnel and Hubova-to-Ivachnova D1 section
    December 13, 2017
    Work will restart on the 15.2km D1 bypass around the Slovakian town of Ružomberok after the government and contractors amended the contract. The consortium of OHL ZS and Vahostav-SK and the National Highway Company (NDS) recently signed and addendum to the contract that includes an extension of section’s Čebrať tunnel by1.6km to 3.6km and shortening of the road by around 300m. Because of continuing geological concern, NDS had earlier decided to reroute the road and the tunnel. As a result, the cost of the
    Read More
  • Poland eyes PPP for four major highway sections worth €2.32 billion
    June 18, 2018
    Poland will use the public-private partnership model for four road sections worth in total €2.32 billion. The roads are the S6 running from Koszalin to the DK6 at Bozepole Wielkie, the S10 from Bydgoszcz to Torun, the western ring-road of Szczecin and the ring-road around the TriCity metropolis. Tenders will be issued likely by the end of the year or the first quarter 2019, according to Polish media. The decision to adopt the PPP model for infrastructure projects is partly a response to the reduction
    Read More
  • Implementation of road building projects in Russia’s Moscow may be significantly delayed
    May 15, 2014
    Implementation of some large-scale investment projects for road building in Russia’s capital Moscow may be significantly delayed A series of major documentation issues are the cause of the problem. These have delayed projects for up to nine tenders on the total sum of US$2.6 billion (95 billion rubles), with anomalies having been found by the Russian Federal Anti-Monopoly Service.
    Read More
  • New US$200 million ring road to be built in Belarus capital Minsk
    May 23, 2014
    Minsk is to benefit from a new ring road that will cut city congestion - Eugene Gerden reports The government of Belarus is investing more than US$200 million in the building of a new ring road around the country’s capital Minsk, in accordance with a government decree. Implementation of the project is taking place as part of the existing large-scale state road building programme in the country until 2017, with the total cost estimated at US$5 billion. The new road will measure some 85km long and will feat
    Read More

Highlighted Content