A1 Gdañsk to Toruñ Motorway, Poland

With Poland becoming more and more integrated into the European Union, the country's infrastructure has begun the long process of being upgraded. One of the major projects is the A1 motorway (E75), which is a design build finance operate (DBFO) project. The road will form part of the European integrated road network, the most northerly section of the EU TENS transport corridor.

The motorway will provide an improved link between the north and south of Poland from the Baltic ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia across the country to its ultimate end in Austria (Vienna) and then go through Slovenia to meet the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas. This means there will be a single transport priority route across Europe from North to South running from the Scandinavian countries right down to southern Europe.

The Polish section of the A1 will run for 568km from Gdańsk through Toruń, Łódź, Częstochowa and Katowice to Gorzyczki on the border.

TWO PHASES

The Polish section of the A1 will be constructed in two phases. The first section of 90km is currently underway and runs from Gdańsk to Nowe Marzy in the north of Poland. Phase two will be a 60km section which will extend the southern end of the A1 to Toruń.

The project is expected to cost €700m (£455m). Phase one is expected to be open to traffic by the end of 2008.

PARTNERS

The Gdańsk Transport Company (GTC) was set up in 1996 for the purpose of completing the A1 motorway (autostrada). The GTC is composed of several partners including John Laing (a 29% share holder), Skanska ID (a subsidiary of Skanska AB Group), Intertoll of Poland and NDS SA of South Africa.

The road is a public private partnership (PPP) arrangement between the GTC and the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways. The concession to operate the two road sections over a period of 34 years was granted to the GTC in August 2004.

The design and construction contract of phase one of the motorway was granted to the joint venture of Skanska Poland and NDI SA, while the supply and installation of the tolling equipment was granted to Intertoll Polska (also responsible for operations and routine maintenance).

FINANCE

The finance has been raised by the GTC from two sources in Europe. The two banks involved are the European Investment Bank and the Nordic Investment Bank.

John Laing, as part of the GTC partnership, has a commitment of €11.5m to phase one of the project. Finance was closed for phase one in September 2005. The financial arrangements for phase two have not yet been finalised.

MOTORWAY STRUCTURE

The motorway will be a dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction and an emergency lane as well as a median barrier. Bridges and overpasses will be constructed as necessary to cross rail lines and rivers. There will be one toll plaza on phase one of the road and toll arrangements on the slip road junctions as well.

The construction of phase one has required earth works amounting to the movement of 16 million tonnes of earth to prepare the road bed. In addition, materials required for construction include 175,000t of cement, 100,000m³ of concrete and 1.6 million tonnes of bitumen mixture. Over phase one and two there will be six interchanges, five motorway service stations and 23 bridges.

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