Bouygues leads €620 million Marseille Bypass concession

Contractor Bouygues leads a consortium that has been awarded a €620 million concession contract for the construction of a bypass road around the French city of Marseille.

Awarded by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, the new Marseille bypass, known as the L2 or the A507, will consist of two stretches of road.

A 4.1km section will be built to the north of Marseille, while a 5.5km section – construction of which began some 20 years ago – will be completed.

Bouygues said the contract, which is for the construction, maintenance and renewal of the roads, represented the largest infrastructure project awarded in France in 2013.

The consortium for the 30-year public-private partnership consists of Bouygues Construction (Bouygues Travaux Publics, the lead company, Bouygues Travaux Publics Régions France, DTP Terrassement and Bouygues Energies & Services) as well as Colas Midi-Méditerranée, Spie Batignolles Egis, Meridiam Infrastructure and CDC Infrastructure.

The L2 is planned to take traffic away from the centre of Marseille and link to the A7 motorway, which leads north to Aix-en-Provence, as well as the A50, which leads east towards Aubatgne and Toulon.

Bouygues said work would last four years, with completion scheduled for October 2017.