Skip to main content

A6 project between Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg set to start

Work will soon start on the €1.3 billion project to widen a stretch of the A6 motorway, one of Germany’s most congested highways. Both sides of the motorway between the Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg junctions will be expanded. On 25 km of the section being expanded under the project – altogether 47.1 km – the number of lanes will be increased from four to six. The project also encompasses the construction of the 1.3km-long Neckartal Bridge. Preparatory work for the public-private partnership has
January 26, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Work will soon start on the €1.3 billion project to widen a stretch of the A6 motorway, one of Germany’s most congested highways.

Both sides of the motorway between the Weinsberg and Wiesloch/Rauenberg junctions will be expanded.

On 25 km of the section being expanded under the project – altogether 47.1 km – the number of lanes will be increased from four to six. The project also encompasses the construction of the 1.3km-long Neckartal Bridge.

Preparatory work for the public-private partnership has already begun with project completion in about five and half years, in July 2022. Clients for the project are the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the state of Baden-Württemberg and Stuttgart Regional Board.

The Federal Government, represented by the regional administrative council (Regierungspräsidium) of Stuttgart, had initially put the roadworks to public tender. This PPP project is designed as a business model type 'A' - or availability model – where the Federal Government makes payment to the private contractor based on the passability of the lanes.

Apart from construction work, the project involves operation and maintenance for the entire 47.1km section over 30 years. The bidding consortium ViA6West made up of the construction firms 981 Hochtief and 1249 Johann Bunte Bauunternehmung together with the financial investor 3634 DIF Infrastructure IV was awarded the concession to carry out the PPP project last October. Construction accounts for around €600 million of this total. Hochtief PPP Solutions has a 30% share in ViA6West, DIF has 50% and Johann Bunte holds 20%.

Consulting engineers Schüßler-Plan was leader of an interdisciplinary advisory team consisting of engineers, lawyers, financial service providers and business consultants. The team worked on conceptual design, consulting and management of the complex bidding procedure. Schüßler-Plan itself carried out economic feasibility studies.

Consulting engineers 1419 Arup provided technical due diligence for one of the bidders and the banks.

The project is qualified for the Juncker Plan under which the EIB –European Investment Bank - and the European Commission provide funds for infrastructure projects in order to overcome the current investment shortfall in Europe. KfW IPEX-Bank is offering a tranche as a project bond, which involves the project company placing the bond on the capital market.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • EIB backing Irish motorway link
    April 30, 2014
    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing financial backing worth €144 million for the new M17/M18 Gort-Tuam motorway project. The M17/M18 Gort to Tuam PPP Scheme is situated in the west of Ireland and will be constructed as a four lane motorway that will replace the existing N17/N18 roads. This new motorway will reduce journey times by around 20 minutes and has an overall cost estimated at €550 million. Construction work will start during this year and this is the second transport PPP to be signed un
  • Slovak government stands firm over R2 Expressway, including Soroska Tunnel
    August 11, 2017
    Jan Durisin, head of Slovakia’s motorway operator NDS, has said that the R2 expressway, will go ahead despite watchdog fears of poor value for money. Completion of the R2, that includes the Soroska Tunnel, remains 2024, he told Slovakian news agencies. NDS, he said, will start looking for a contractor to start work in 2018 on a stretch of the expressway near the town of Roznava. R2 is a 360km route that will run from Kosice in the east across the country to Trenčín, near the Czech border in the west. It wil
  • Albanian road investment
    May 15, 2012
    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing major funding in Albania’s road network. A loan worth €53 million will help pay for the construction of the new Fier and Vlore bypasses. This loan will aid further development of the Albanian road network and boosting economic integration in the country by co-financing the construction of the two bypass roads, located in south-western Albania. The EBRD loan is structured in two tranches and will be used by the Albanian Road Authority t
  • East End Crossing Project—Availability payment P3 in action
    July 14, 2017
    Indiana exercised its authority to use a P3 contract when it partnered with Kentucky for new bridges across the Ohio River. Barney Allison and John Smolen* explain the groundbreaking availability payment deal. Earlier this year, traffic began rolling over the new tolled Lewis and Clark Bridge spanning the Ohio River from northern Kentucky to southern Indiana. The cable-stayed bridge is part of the award-winning Ohio Bridges Project to untangle traffic within the greater metropolitan area of Louisville, Kent