Bam consortium wins $270m Irish bypass contract

A consortium led by Dutch contractor BAM is to design, build, finance, maintain and operate a $270m road in Ireland.   

The N25 New Ross Bypass project will involve the construction of a 13.6km dual carriageway and a 1.2km single carriageway.  

As well as BAM’s public-private partnership division, the consortium consists of the Dutch pension fund PGGM and Iridium, a subsidiary of Spanish construction group ACS that specialises in running infrastructure concessions. 

Construction work is expected to create 300 jobs across Ireland. It will be undertaken by a joint venture between BAM Civil and Dragados, which is another subsidiary of ACS.

(http://www.bamppp.com)

The road is intended to bypass the town of New Ross on the N25 route and link the N25 with the N30 New Ross to Enniscorthy road. It will improve access from the cities of Cork and Waterford to the port of Rosslare and remove a bottleneck on the N25. 

Ireland’s National Roads Authority plans to use the European Investment Bank’s Project Bond Credit Enhancement product to help finance the scheme. This is an initiative intended to improve the security of institutional investors by guaranteeing up to 20% of the project debt.