The Slovakian government and a consortium comprised of FCC, Alpine, Hochtief PPP Solutions GmbH and Western Carpathians Motorway Investors Company have signed a concession for a section of the D1 motorway. The D1 is the primary transverse highway through Slovakia, connecting Austria and Ukraine. The 25km section of motorway passes through northern cities such as Hricovské Podhradie and Dubná Skala and near to the city of Zilina. Financing is expected to be completed in the coming months.

The 1.99 billion euro contract calls for the construction of a new 25 km section of motorway, 6 km of link roads, 7.6 km of bridges and three tunnels measuring 10.6 km in total, including notably the Visnove Tunnel (7.5 km long, comprising two tubes with a cross-section of 120 m2 each). The contract also includes maintenance during 30 years.

This is the third project to be tendered as part of the Slovakian government's new Road Concession Programme; the first two were the R1 and the first section of the D1. Slovakia's Ministry of Transport implemented the plan in 2007 with a view to modernising the country's transportation system, and it is part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN).

FCC's concession experience

FCC Group is ranked by Public Works Financing magazine as a global leader in terms of the number of infrastructure concessions it holds, and it participates in large projects in Europe and America through three subsidiaries:

• FCC Construcción
• Alpine Group
• Global Via Infraestructuras

Through the above companies, FCC Group participates in major transportation concessions, including Barcelona Metro Line 9, Catalonia's Eix Transversal Highway, the Cartagena-Vera Highway, the A-12 Autovía del Camino (the largest shadow toll road in operation in Spain), the Tramontana Toll Road in Portugal, the Malaga Metro, the N-6 and M-50 Motorways in Ireland and the A-5 Toll Road in Austria.