FCC, through its Austrian subsidiary ALPINE, has been awarded the contract to build a new bridge over the Danube at Traismauer (Lower Austria). The contract is worth 48.7 million euro.
ALPINE beat five consortia to land the contract and will build the bridge as sole contractor.
The Traismauer bridge will connect the S33 and S5 highways. Once completed, it will provide a full dual carriageway connection between Sankt Pölten and Vienna, which lies north of the Danube. The bridge will shorten the journey by 20km and also reduce congestion on the B19 Tullner Strasse. Construction is expected to be completed by mid-2011.
The prestressed concrete bridge will be 15 metres high. Measuring over one kilometre, the bridge will have two spans over land (460 metres on the northern end and 330 metres on the southern end) and a 360 metre span over the river. There will be separate structure for each side of the road, which will comprise two traffic lanes and an emergency lane. The bridge will be supported by two piers in the river and shipping will pass through the central span.
The bridge foundations will be built first using 40-metre piles. The two piers will then be built in the river, which is 12 metres deep at this point. The work will be carried out entirely from a barge so as to avoid the ongoing risk of floods.
Second bridge over the Danube
This will be FCC's second bridge over the Danube. It is currently building the Vidin-Calafat bridge linking Bulgaria and Romania (budget: 116 million euro). The bridge, which is part of European Corridor IV (Dresden-Istanbul) will be 1,971 metres long.
ALPINE has a strong track record in bridge building. It will also build the Domovinski Most bridge over the river Sava in Zagreb, and is currently building the Beska bridge, in Serbia (budget: 35 million euro).
ALPINE operates worldwide. With approximately 2.3 billion euro in cost revenues and close to 12,750 employees, ALPINE is Austria's second-largest construction group. To date in 2007, ALPINE has landed new contracts worth over 3 billion euro. FCC acquired 80% of Alpine in 2006 as part of the 2005-2008 Strategic Plan promoted by the company's leading shareholder, Esther Koplowitz.
