Skip to main content

Chinese to build Dutch tunnels, bridges?

Chinese companies may play a role in the e1.5 billion A6/A9 highway project in the Netherlands.
February 21, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Patrick Smith, Eurofile Editor
Chinese companies may play a role in the €1.5 billion A6/A9 highway project in the Netherlands.
The project requires building a number of tunnels, bridges and connecting highways between Almere and the capital Amsterdam.
The 1093 Dutch Investment Bank NIBC is tendering for the project and has said that should it win, it would involve Chinese banks and contractors. The development is of note as Chinese companies are keen to compete in tenders outside the country, including for European projects.
Chinese contractors have had great success winning deals in other Asian nations and parts of Africa but apart from a few contracts in parts of Eastern Europe, such as Poland, they have not so far developed a significant share of the European Union market.
Winning projects in the Netherlands would be of key significance as the country is noted for its heavy traffic volumes, with a great deal of through traffic to and from its busy ports, as well as for its high standards of highway construction. Any Chinese road builder operating in the Netherlands would have to meet some of the highest construction quality specifications for highways of any country in the world.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • State of the art tunnel a conservation triumph
    February 28, 2012
    The opening of a 1.8km tunnel in southern England is designed to ease traffic bottlenecks in an environmentally sensitive area. Patrick Smith reports
  • Chinese road building with Caterpillar excavators
    March 24, 2017
    A contractor in China is using specially modified excavators to carry out key tasks for road construction work The firm has acquired a number of Caterpillar excavators that have been supplied in adapted form for the project. The company is working on a contract to carry out work on a 4km road project in Nanning Road, Tianfu New District in Chengdu City. Nanning Road is located in a mountainous area and the ground conditions are challenging, with a great deal of hard rock present. Typically, this type
  • New machines competing in ADT market
    February 19, 2013
    All-wheel-drive trucks for the Chinese market - Mike Woof reports. One noticeable development at the bauma China exhibition in Shanghai in late 2012 was the proliferation of ADT models. Doosan and Volvo showed some of their latest ADT variants alongside their latest excavators and are keen to highlight the benefits of ADTs for use on sites where traction or grade may be an issue for rigid trucks or on/off highway haulers. However Caterpillar chose to highlight its off-highway rigid trucks at bauma China, as
  • Formwork solutions for bridge maintenance and repair
    January 6, 2015
    An array of innovative formwork solutions have helped in the repair and construction of key bridge links - Mike Woof writes Formwork producers are continually developing novel solutions for bridge maintenance and construction applications. Several key structures have benefited from the novel use of formwork systems, with suppliers such as Doka, PERI, Pilosio and RMD all working on important structures in recent times. In Estonia, construction work is underway on the bypass around Tartu, the country’s