The contract, signed by Bouygues in its role as leader of the Socoprim project company, also covers the operation and maintenance of the road for 30 years. The other shareholders of Socoprim are Total CI, PAIDF, the Ivory Coast government and the national investment bank BNI.
This project, in which the construction works represent a total of €232m (£187m) is one of the first concessions in West Africa.
The highway will incorporate the 1.5m-long Henri Konan Bedié Bridge and the Valéry Giscard d'Estaing interchange. The highway will be located close to the largest port on the West African coast and is seen as an essential tool for the development of the city, improving the traffic flow. Rapid expansion of both the north and south zones of Abidjan has resulted in the two existing bridges becoming saturated: each day, roughly 200,000 vehicles cross the lagoon.
The works carried out by Bouygues Travaux Publics will start in September 2012 and will last two years (25 months). At peak periods, 700 people will be on site.
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