Skip to main content

Eiffage set to be concessionaire for France’s RCEA project

France’s Transport Ministry has chosen construction and concessions group Eiffage as the single prospective concessionaire for the project to complete the Route Centre-Europe Atlantique. The east-west RCEA is considered to be one of the most dangerous routes in France, according to government statistics. Some sections of the route, also called the Route Nationale 79, has been upgraded into a four-lane motorway over the past several decades. The plan is make the remaining two-lane sections into four-lanes
June 17, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
France’s Transport Ministry has chosen construction and concessions group 5871 Eiffage as the single prospective concessionaire for the project to complete the Route Centre-Europe Atlantique.


The east-west RCEA is considered to be one of the most dangerous routes in France, according to government statistics. Some sections of the route, also called the Route Nationale 79, has been upgraded into a four-lane motorway over the past several decades. The plan is make the remaining two-lane sections into four-lanes.

French media reported that negotiations will now begin to finalise the project that could cost as much as €600 million, according to an estimate made last year by Benoît de Ruffray, chief executive of Eiffage.

The concession – which will not be bolstered with any public money – must include the provision for  clean vehicles and the deployment of electric vehicle charging equipment.

The project must be finalised by France’s transport regulator ARAFER and then given the go-ahead by the State Council, likely by the end of the year.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Norway’s record breaking undersea road tunnel
    February 25, 2015
    The world's deepest road tunnel is currently in construction near Stavanger in Norway but is only the prelude to even larger projects - report and photographs by Adrian Greeman. Norway's convoluted coastline of fjords and high mountains is famously scenic but also a major problem for transport and connections. The country has long experience of constructing tunnels as a result. Now a series of tunnels underway, or in design, around the oil industry city of Stavanger will stretch its skills more than usual.
  • Road pricing revenue a source of investment funds
    February 16, 2012
    When channelled back into the road sector, revenue from road charging is seen by many as a source of additional investment and research funds as Patrick Smith reports. Late in 2010, three major European organisations put out a policy statement calling for fair charging for greener, smarter and safer road infrastructure. ASECAP (the European toll road operators organisation); ERF (European Road Federation) and the IRU (International Road Transport Union), said that in recent years the concept of road chargin
  • A €700 million investment ensures a makeover for Malta’s roads
    June 3, 2019
    The European Union Road Federation (ERF) recently held a road safety workshop in Malta* Infrastructure Malta is entrusted with handling Malta’s recently announced – and unprecedented - road investment of more than €700 million over the next seven years. The government is also tapping into several European Union funds to support its own investment. Projects include construction of the Marsa Junction Project, a new seven-flyover, multi-level intersection to improve the efficiency of the country’s most imp
  • Financing safer, more sustainable European roads
    April 12, 2012
    The future financing of the European road network has again become a hot topic in Brussels On 15 October, 2010 in the Belgian capital, the Council of Transport Ministers hammered out a political compromise on the revision of the Eurovignette Directive that paves the way for the imposition of additional charges on road transport as a means of internalising externalities. Whether the imposition of these additional costs is justified or not remains the subject of protracted debate.