The Reunion Island’s new road project called Pharaonic New Route du Littoral (NRL) is expected to cost € 1.66 billion for its 12km span, thus making it the most expensive road in France.
Two consortia were selected for the delivery of the project. The first led by Vinci, which includes Bouygues, Dodin and Demathieu & Bard, will carry out the construction of viaduct with a budget of €716 million. The second led by the Great Works of the Indian Ocean (GTOI), a subsidiary of Colas Group will be responsible for the construction of dikes with a proposal that is capped at € 480 million.
The coastal highway was designed to replace the existing coast road built at the foot of a cliff that links the commercial port of Pointe Pebbles in capital Saint-Denis Roland Garros and the International Airport. This is to prevent geological hazards (landslides after heavy rains) and marine (including heavy swells during hurricane) for some 60,000 vehicles using this road daily and encourage economic boost for the island.
The New Route du Littoral was designed with a consideration of its proximity to the cliff as well as client’s requirement of the route’s resistance to the impact of cyclonic swells. The proposed 4-way road, which also provides an emergency lane and a bike path, consists of two dams (1 km and 5.7 km) and a 5.3 km viaduct at each end with road diffuser.
The construction works on NRL are scheduled to start in late 2014-early 2015. Selons estimates, the site of the NRL should generate between 2,500 and 2,800 engineering jobs.
Moreover, the works on the viaduct, worth € 715 million, will be completed in 2018. The viaduct will be executed in a way that more than 95% of the works will be prefabricated on the ground and then mainly installed by sea.
Photo Source: Vinci Construction Projects
