Skip to main content

Major German road contract awarded

A major road contract has been awarded close to Hesse in Germany.
By MJ Woof September 2, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
STRABAG is one of the partners in a major project in Hesse, Germany – image © courtesy of STRABAG

The contract for a major road project in Germany has been awarded for the A49 highway. The work will be carried out under the PPP model and is located close to Hesse.

The project is a design-build-finance-operate-maintain contract for A49 highway between Fritzlar and Ohmtal interchange. This 62km deal will be handled jointly by STRABAG Großprojekte and LEONHARD WEISS to close the gap between Schwalmstadt and the Ohmtal interchange

The project has a value of over € 700 million. The deal is for the construction of a 31km long section of the A49 highway between Schwalmstadt and the Ohmtal interchange in northern and central Hesse. The PPP project also includes the design and proportionate financing as well as the maintenance and operation of the motorway over a distance of nearly 62km between the Fritzlar junction and the Ohmtal A5/A49 interchange.

The client is the Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the State of Hesse, represented by Deutsche Einheit Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau (DEGES). The consortium A 49 Autobahngesellschaft has been established for the project and is held 50:50 between STRABAG Infrastrukturprojekt and Meridiam Investments SAS. The PPP contract is for a 30-year concession.

Financing has been provided by the KfW IPEX-Bank (Germany), the European Investment Bank (EIB), MEAG (Germany) and ČSOB (Czech Republic, part of the Belgian KBC Group). In all the project will cost around €1.3 billion.

“We are pleased about the renewed trust in our ability to successfully realise large infrastructure projects in public-private partnerships, something we are already demonstrating in Germany with the A8 and A5 motorways,” said Thomas Birtel, CEO of STRABAG.

The A49 between Fritzlar and the Ohmtal interchange is divided into four sections. The first section to the Neuental junction is already open to traffic. The second section to the Schwalmstadt junction is currently under construction by HessenMobil. Realisation of the new sections three and four, from Schwalmstadt over the Stadtallendorf-Nord junction to the Ohmtal interchange, should begin in September 2020. The contract includes upgrading the A5 along a 1.5km section at the Ohmtal intersection. The main construction works are scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2024.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Strabag wins Polish road contract
    September 17, 2018
    Austrian contractor Strabag has won a stake in a design and build road contract in Poland. The project is worth a total of €133 million and involves building a section of highway carrying three lanes in either direction. The firm will work on the project to build another stretch of the A1 highway in Poland. The 17km long Section C begins at the Kamieńsk junction and ends at Radomsko, where the construction of a motorway interchange forms part of the order.
  • Kenya port suspension bridge project makes progress
    January 15, 2019
    A new suspension bridge in Kenya’s key port city, Mombasa, will help unlock potential – Shem Oirere reports Plans for the construction of a US$200 million suspension bridge in Kenya heva moved a notch higher. The country's urban roads agency recently announced the shortlisting of three bidders for the design, finance, construct, operate, maintain and transfer public private partnership (PPP) contract model. Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) is a state agency that manages, develops, rehabilitates and mai
  • Highway traffic management and tunnel safety
    May 14, 2012
    Austria’s new A5 autobahn is now officially open to traffic and the highway is also the first in the country being built under the PPP model. The first 16km stretch of the highway was opened in November 2009 on schedule with the second 35km section now having been opened as well. The contract was carried out by concession company Bonaventura Strassenerhaltungs, a partnership headed by German company Hochtief and Austrian firm Alpine Bau each with 44.4% stakes while French firm Egis Preojects holds the remai
  • STRABAG wins Hungarian expressway contract
    December 20, 2017
    STRABAG has won the tendering process for a €125 million expressway construction contract in Hungary. The package of works is for the construction of the R76 expressway in western Hungary. The contract will involve building an 8.6km section of expressway along with a number of overbridges and will take 36 months to complete. The work is being carried out for the state-owned firm NIF Zrt. This will be the first section of the R76 expressway, running from Zalaegerszeg to the M7 motorway and the work will incl