The Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket) has awarded a SEK540m ($80.7m) contract to construction company Veidekke Entreprenad to build a four-lane motorway on Road 40, between Borås and Ulricehamn.

“The new road between Dållebo and Hester will be a 21.5m-wide highway with speed limits of 110kmph.”

The project includes construction of the second phase of Road 40, from Dållebo to Hester, and is comprised of seven kilometres of motorway, seven bridges and a 400m-long tunnel through Vistbergen.

In addition, the contract involves substantial rock, water and drainage, tunnel and concrete works on the road.

The new project is scheduled to commence in December 2012 and will be completed in three years.

Once all stages of the Dållebo-Hester project are completed, the new stretch will feature the motorway standard between Gothenburg and Ulricehamn, as well as have central reservations along the route from Gothenburg to Stockholm.

The new road between Dållebo and Hester will be a 21.5m-wide highway with speed limits of 110kmph.

Previously, Veidekke was awarded Förbifart Sjöbo contract, north of Borås.

This project is being carried out in cooperation with Veidekke Anläggning SydVäst and Veidekke Tunnel och Bergrum.

Veidekke Anläggning SydVäst regional manager Peter Svenningsson said that the company started planning for the second phase of the Road 40 project in May 2012, and an internal Veidekke consortium will perform the contract.

Feasibility study for the entire Road 40 project was completed in December 2001, and new project information was presented in May 2007 and November 2008, with the admissibility decision finalised in September 2008.

Founded in 1936 and based in Sweden, Veidekke is engaged in activities that include building and construction projects, residential developments, asphalt plants, gravel, aggregates and road maintenance, and it employs 6,100 people.