Vinci wins US design-build road contract

Blythe Construction, a subsidiary of Eurovia (part of Vinci Group), has won a US$ 187 million (€134 million) design-build contract to widen a section of interstate highway I-85 in North Carolina, US.

The upgrade is designed to improve traffic flow along the busy 12 km section by widening it from four to eight lanes. The project also includes the demolition and reconstruction of 11 bridges and viaducts (including a railway viaduct over the motorway) and construction of an interchange.

Blythe Construction has said it plans on applying the Recyvia environmental process, which enables it to employ up to 50% recycled materials, for the first time on a major highway in North Carolina.

The design is currently being finalised. Construction will start in early 2015 and handover is scheduled in December 2017.