Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas of Spain, in the JV Company with Algerian ETRHB Haddad has been awarded a contract to design and build a 185 kilometers railway line running west of the capital city, Algiers and connecting the towns of Relizane, Tiaret and Tissemsilt. The project has a budget of EUR 935.5 million and a construction deadline of 54 months.
The contract, award by the Transport Ministry via ANESRIF is part of the Economic Development Program 2009 to 2014 Promoted by Algeria's president Mr Abdelaziz Bouteflika. The Program has a budget of EUR 114 billion a large part of which is aimed at Infrastructure construction.
The new line will have a high performance single track which allows for a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour divided into two sections: Relizane Tiaret, measuring 121.1 kilometers very rugged terrain in the New Austrian Tunnelling Method will be used to build 5 tunnels and Tiaret, Tissemsilt, measuring 64.2 kilometers.
The project includes construction of seven passenger stations, 5 junctions, 7 maintenance buildings along the length of the railway and renovation work on existing stations in Relizane and Tissemsilt. The line will be electrified in the future. This new contract strengthens the international expansion of FCC's Infrastructure division (construction and concessions), which focuses on a small number of countries to view with a stable foothold to gaining through development plans. Currently, 44% of group revenues are from outside Spain.
FCC Group's Presence in the Republic of Algeria: Algeria has become a market with great potential due to STI Economic Development Program, which focuses on infrastructure, energy and desalination. FCC Group in Algeria already operates through STI subsidiary water management, Aqualia's which has two major projects under contract with state owed Algerian Energy Company for the construction and management of two seawater desalination plants in macro Mostaganem and Cap Djinet. Together they represent revenues of more than EUR 1.1 billion and are managed via a 50:50 JV with Inima, an OHL Subsidiary.
FCC's competence in railway construction: FCC has extensive experience in railway construction. It has built various sections of high speed railway, including Madrid-Levante, During Which the company beat the boring daily world record five times on the Seven Separate Water Bunol subsection, setting the world record at 83.2 m concrete rings excavated and 52 September in a single day. Also The Company built the bypass Pajares Leon Asturias on the line, the Pajares tunnel and the Guadarrama tunnels on the high speed rail line to northwestern Spain.
Currently FCC is building the railway line connecting Atocha and Chamartin stations in Madrid and Extending Line 2 of Madrid's Metro to Las Rozas. Outside Spain, the company is building Line 2 of the Athens Metro, Subway Line between New Delhi and Indira Gandhi International Airport, railway infrastructure for the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland, the railway link to the Berlin Brandenburg Airport and the railway access to the Vidin Calafat Bridge in Bulgaria.
(Sourced from FCC)
