Leighton Contractors Pty Limited, as part of the Wellington Gateway Partnership (WGP), has been selected by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) as the preferred proponent to deliver the NZ$1 billion Transmission Gully Motorway, under an availability based Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The WGP includes partners Leighton Contractors, HEB Construction Ltd, InfraRed Capital Partners, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU) and the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). The value to Leighton Contractors is expected to be in excess of NZ$800 million.
Leighton Holdings Chief Executive Officer, Hamish Tyrwhitt, said: “The selection demonstrates NZTA’s confidence in our major project experience underpinned by financial strength and the right technical resources.”
Leighton Contractors Managing Director, Craig Laslett, said: “The WGP team brings together the local and international expertise and experience required to deliver this challenging project.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with NZTA after successfully delivering projects including the Northern Gateway Toll Road and Newmarket Viaduct replacement project.”
The Transmission Gully PPP Project includes the design and construction of a 27 km long expressway standard motorway just north of Wellington, with a 25 year operations and maintenance contract. The new motorway will bypass the existing coastal route, increase road safety and improve network reliability with high levels of seismic resilience. Transmission Gully will also be a catalyst for economic growth in the Wellington region.
A key component of the project is the design and delivery of 29 bridges, a number of complex interchanges and the movement of more than 6 million m3 of earth.
Leighton Contractors will be the special purpose vehicle manager for WGP, take a majority role in the design and construct subcontract with JV partner HEB Construction, and perform 100% of the operations and maintenance subcontract.
Equity investors in the project are Leighton Contractors (10%), InfraRed and ACC. BTMU is financial advisor.
NZTA and WGP will work together to achieve financial close by mid-2014. Preparatory work will commence in third quarter 2014 with the aim of having the Transmission Gully highway open for traffic by 2020.
Leighton Contractors has a strong presence in New Zealand, working across the infrastructure, telecommunications, mining and services sectors. Today, the company employs more than 3,000 people in New Zealand – approximately 700 direct employees and more than 2,300 subcontractors.