Seymour Whyte secures two motorway contracts in Australia

French construction company VINCI has announced that its Australian subsidiary Seymour Whyte secured two motorway contracts worth a total A$330m ($236m).

Under the first contract, worth A$270m ($193m), Seymour Whyte will be responsible for upgrading M1 Pacific Motorway between Varsity Lakes and Tugun near the border between Queensland and New South Wales (NSW).

As part of this contract, Seymour Whyte will widen a 5km road stretch on the motorway to make it a three-lane road in both directions.

The project includes an upgrade of motorway bridges and slip roads, as well as the construction of a new service road and preservation of the corridor for future rail extension.

The project will also see the integration of smart motorway technologies.

Upon completion, this project is expected to the reduce travel times of nearly 90,000 motorists who use this section daily.

The second contract, worth A$60m ($42.9m), will see the upgrade of a stretch of the Barton Highway between Canberra and Murrumbateman 280km south-west of Sydney, NSW.

Seymour Whyte will complete the project in partnership with the Australian construction company SMEC, which has been selected by the Transport for NSW.

For this project, Seymour Whyte will be responsible for 94% of the construction work while SMEC will be involved in project designs and will have 6% work share in the project.

As part of the Barton Highway project, Seymour Whyte will be responsible for the construction of a new two-lane northbound carriageway, modifications to the existing Barton Highway and intersection upgrades.

It will also carry out drainage works, as well as the relocation of services and utilities and landscaping work.

Barton Highway is an arterial route for transporting goods between NSW, Canberra and the state of Victoria.