The Finnish Transport Agency has reached a procurement decision regarding the service provider who will build the E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa motorway on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. Contract negotiations, with the aim of signing a 20-year service agreement by summer 2015, will begin immediately with the consortium formed by Meridiam Infrastructure Finance II S.à.r.l and YIT Rakennus Oy. Construction will commence in autumn 2015 and the entire motorway is estimated to be completed in 2018.
The competitive tendering process of the project lasted almost a year and included several rounds of negotiations. At these negotiations the bidders were given the opportunity to present their ideas regarding everything from motorway planning solutions to project financing details. This was to ensure that all bidders met the criteria for implementing the project. For the winner of the competitive tendering, the PPP project means an estimated 20-year commitment to build and maintain the road.
"The Finnish Transport Agency received three good offers of high standard. The winning tender met the Finnish Transport Agency's expectations both in terms of price and quality. We can now confidently start finalising the contract with a professional and capable service provider", says Project Director Lars Westermark at the Finnish Transport Agency.
"The tendering process was a success, and both the market conditions and interest rate were favourable. Current estimates show that the reduced annual expenses can save the Finnish Transport Agency over 100 million euros over a period of 20 years." The final contract price will not be determined until this summer, when the contract is signed.
The road section to be built is the last part of the E18 motorway, which crosses the country from Turku to the eastern border. The project will be carried out on a public-private partnership basis (PPP model), in which the service provider is responsible not only for the financing of the project, but also for the planning, construction and maintenance. In Finland the PPP model has previously been used for implementing large and challenging motorway projects, such as main road 4, the Järvenpää–Lahti motorway, the E18 Muurla–Lohja motorway and the E18 Koskenkylä-Kotka motorway.
The E18 Hamina–Vaalimaa project comprises the building of about 32 kilometres of new motorway and the related road arrangements. The building of the waiting area for lorries in Vaalimaa is also part of the project. The existing pedestrian and bicycle lanes will be improved and additional lanes will be built especially along the old main road parallel to the motorway.