ACCIONA : to maintain 4,200 kilometres of roads in Western Canada

The Ministry of Transportation of British Columbia (Canada) has awarded ACCIONA two highway maintenance contracts based on service level agreements, covering the Okanagan-Shuswap and South Okanagan regions; the contracts cover 4,200 kilometres of roads plus additional infrastructure such as 12 rest areas, 338 bridges and nine tunnels.

ACCIONA will ensure road safety in the area and carry out the maintenance and repair of all elements of the highway, including surfaces, drainage, pavements, structures, vegetation and traffic signs, as well as emergency response work.

The company will mainly focus on winter road maintenance duties. Winter conditions represent the main handicap in terms of mobility during most of the year, due to the area's usual low temperatures and heavy snowfall.

The two contracts, which come into force on 1 April and 1 May, respectively, are together worth 348.6 million Canadian dollars, i.e. about €235 million.

The agreement between the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and ACCIONA entails a stepped up commitment to road safety in the territory. 'As a company that has completed major projects in Canada over the last 19 years, and with its headquarters here in British Columbia, this is a natural extension of our business,' said Darren Sokoloski, President of ACCIONA Infrastructure Canada. 'We look forward to working as a team to maintain the high standards of quality and service that the citizens and the Ministry expect,' he added.

Canada is a platform country for ACCIONA, where it first set up in 2000 to execute one of the country's landmark water projects, Toronto's Deep Lake Water Cooling project. ACCIONA has commercial offices in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, with headquarters in Vancouver.

ACCIONA has been involved in major infrastructure projects in Canada such as the Site-C dam, a 1,100 MW hydroelectric plant; the Walterdale bridge, in Edmonton; Autoroute A-30 in Montreal; the Herb Gray Parkway, in Ontario; the South East Stoney Trail, in Alberta; and the Windsor Essex Parkway, in Ontario. It is also modernising the water distribution system in the city of Saint John, and is executing the North Shore wastewater plant in Vancouver under a design, build and operate contract.