Iridium has been awarded a 35-year concession for the I-595 highway in Florida, worth 1.7 billion dollars, and Dragados is to do the construction work.
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has awarded ACS Infrastructure Development, Iridium?s US concessions subsidiary, a 35-year concession for the I-595 interstate highway.
The contract, worth 1.7 billion dollars, covers the financing, design, building, operation and maintenance of these road facilities for the next 35 years, with the construction period accounting for about five and a half years and the rest corresponding to the operating period. ACS Infrastructure Development will therefore operate the road up to 2044.
Dragados is to take care of the construction work, including the addition of three reversible express lanes in the current median and the renewal of nine interchanges.
The project already has its financing secured, with a capital contribution of 10% and debt of 90%. Of this debt, 40% will come from a federal credit through the Transport Infrastructure Finance (TIFIA) programme, maturing in 2043, and the rest will be obtained through the issue of bonds, backed by Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of America, or will be supplied by the pool of banks taking part in the proposal, including Santander, SG, Calyon, Lloyds and Fortis.
I-595 is one of the main transport corridors in southern Florida, linking Fort Lauderdale and Miami on the state?s west coast, and currently has traffic of 130,000 vehicles a day, which will have to be served throughout the construction works.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation the highway will be enlarged, improved and upgraded in the scheduled period thanks to the choice of the private concession and operation formula. If they had used the traditional formula, they estimate that the job would have taken 15 to 20 years.
With this award the ACS Group has consolidated its presence in North America, becoming one of the regional leaders in the infrastructure concession market after recent awards in Texas, Florida and Canada.
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