Skip to main content

Sierra Leone bridge tender opening

Sierra Leone is opening the tender process for a major bridge project that will connect capital Freetown with its international airport. Building the bridge is expected to cost up to US$2 billion. The project will be handled under the PPP model and will be offered as a 35-year concession package, with the winner able to charge tolls to use the route. Several international firms have already expressed an interest in this ambitious project. At present the most direct connection between Freetown and the nearb
July 2, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Sierra Leone is opening the tender process for a major bridge project that will connect capital Freetown with its international airport. Building the bridge is expected to cost up to US$2 billion. The project will be handled under the PPP model and will be offered as a 35-year concession package, with the winner able to charge tolls to use the route. Several international firms have already expressed an interest in this ambitious project.

At present the most direct connection between Freetown and the nearby Lungi International Airport for the majority of travellers heading to and from Sierra Leone is by using ferries across the Tagrin Bay. Some more affluent travellers use helicopters. However the new tolled bridge will provide a direct route between the city and the airport.

Building the bridge is expected to take up to six years and the structure will have to have a design life of 120 years. The bridge will have to measure up to 7km in length. One end of the bridge is likely to be built close to the current ferry terminal at Tagrin, with the other connecting with Bal Bureh Road.

Related Content

  • French infrastructure to be privatised?
    July 4, 2012
    How will the deep cuts hitting France's national budget affect French roads and highways? Gordon Feller discusses France has one of the most modern transport systems in Europe, the result of decades of public spending on the sector as well as other infrastructure. The government historically has awarded contracts to build infrastructure to French construction and engineering companies, some of which are now among the world's largest contractors. Among other achievements, France's infrastructure programme re
  • China opens record-breaking bridge
    April 11, 2012
    China has opened the world's longest bridge over water, the 41.58km Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, which is said to have cost well over US$2 billion to build. It links the eastern port city of Qingdao to Huangdao Island across Jiaozhou Bay and is 4km longer than the previous longest bridge over water, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. Opened in June, 2011 after four years of construction, the link is expected to carry some 30,000 vehicle/day and will reduce travel time by 30 minutes, although it is o
  • A new airport for Crete
    October 1, 2024
    Crete's new airport is benefiting from the use of Dynapac machines.
  • A new tunnel project for Turkey is a significant move
    December 12, 2012
    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supplying a finance package worth US$150 million for the new Bosphorus crossing project in Turkey. Running under the Bosphorus at Istanbul, the new tunnel will connect both European and Asian sides of the city. The EBRD’s $150 million loan completes $1.4 billion worth of financing required for the Eurasia Tunnel project, being built under the Bosphorus straits. Other components of the $1.4 billion financing package for this PPP project include a