A joint venture partnership will handle the US$2.1 billion Interstate 10 Calcasieu River Bridge project in Louisiana. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (La DOTD) awarded the work to Calcasieu Bridge Partners (CBP).
The CBP joint venture comprises Plenary Americas US Holdings, Sacyr Infrastructure, and Acciona Concesiones and will carry out the work under the PPP model. Acciona and Sacyr both hold a 30% stake in the joint venture while Plenary Americas holds a 40% stake. The deal is for a 50-year concession package to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the new Calcasieu River bridge.
The project involves building a tolled, 8.8km corridor connecting Ryan Street in Lake Charles with the I-210 and I-10 interchange on the west side of Lake Charles. New link roads and ramps are also included in the work. The new bridge will replace the existing steel truss structure, which is now over 70 years old. Construction is intended to commence in 2024 and will take seven years to complete.
The work includes reconstruction of six lanes of the interstate highway, building of several adjacent structures, installing free-flow tolling technology and the removal of the existing bridge. Building the new structure will boost capacity as the current bridge has only two lanes in either direction and is not sufficient for the 55,000 vehicles/day using the route. In addition, the current bridge has sharp curves on the east side, a narrow layout and a steep slope.
