A19 Opening of 101 km of eco-motorway

11 August 2011 - Projects update and handover - France

On 16 June at noon, four months ahead of schedule, Arcour (VINCI Concessions) opened France’s first ecomotorway to traffic: the A19 links up the A10, the A6 and the A77, and provides the southern bypass round the Île-de-France (the Paris region). The entry into service of this 101 km artery between Artenay and Courtenay (central France) marks the completion of the biggest motorway worksite in France: 8,000 people contributed to the project, putting in 4 million hours of work. Designed and built in just four years by Group companies – VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction France and Eurovia, working together within the Socaly consortium – at a cost of 847 million euros (90% financed by VINCI), and operated by Cofiroute (VINCI Concessions) within the framework of a 65-year concession contract, the A19 testifies to the soundness of VINCI’s concession-construction business model and the Group’s long-term commitment to regional development. It also demonstrates the Group’s know-how as regards sustainable development. The A19 boasts 107 run-off treatment basins (i.e. more than one per kilometre), 9 km of noise barriers (twice the legal requirement), 116 animal crossings and 200,000 trees planted along its route (see Esprit VINCI No. 54, pp. 24-26). This motorway is also the first in France to try out a continuouslymarked hard shoulder, in one traffic direction. By going beyond the current regulatory requirements, the A19 foreshadows a new generation of motorways: “This is a model, an example the entire network must aim to follow,” said French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau at the inauguration ceremony.