Construction is officially underway on the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement Project. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LA DOTD), together with project partners ACCIONA, Sacyr and Plenary marked the start of construction with a formal groundbreaking that will replace the existing 1950s-era Calcasieu River Bridge with a modern crossing designed to improve safety, mobility, and freight reliability along one of the most important interstate corridors in the Gulf South.

The I-10 across the Calcasieu River serves as a critical link for commuters, regional industry, and national supply chains moving through Southwest Louisiana. Designed to meet current and future transportation demands, the new bridge will feature three lanes, plus auxiliary lane, full shoulders, a reduced grade, and all-electronic free-flow tolling to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion. The project also includes roadway and interchange improvements that will strengthen connectivity and create new opportunities for commercial development in Lake Charles and Westlake.

LA DOTD estimates the project will support more than 16,000 jobs over its lifecycle and generate more than US$1 billion (€855 million) in economic impact through construction activity, local procurement, and long-term regional growth.

The project is being delivered as a long-term public-private partnership (P3) concession, under which the consortium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain the asset over a 50-year period. The concession represents a total investment of US$3.37 billion (€3.10 billion).

As one of the largest infrastructure investments in Louisiana history, the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement Project is also expected to improve freight efficiency and support the continued economic growth of Southwest Louisiana for decades to come.

KEY PROJECTS

ACCIONA continues to expand its presence in the United States, delivering major infrastructure projects nationwide.

Aside from the I-10 project, the company is leading the design, construction, financing and 55-year operation of a major new express lanes corridor in Atlanta, the SR400 Express Lanes project.

In North Dakota, as part of the Red River Valley Alliance, ACCIONA is delivering the Fargo-Moorhead River Flood Diversion Channel project, a P3 flood protection initiative working alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to protect more than 235,000 residents from severe flooding.

In the water sector, the company recently completed the renovation of the Tampa Bay desalination plant and will design, build and operate and maintain the Doheny Ocean Desalination Plant in California, strengthening long-term water supply resilience. It also has three major water treatment projects in Puerto Rico, which will benefit a combined 325,000 residents.

In renewable energy, ACCIONA Energía operates a total installed capacity of 3GW in the USA, including 1.4GW of wind, 1.3GW of solar, a 64MW solar thermal plant and one of the largest utility-scale battery energy storage systems in Texas.

In addition, ACCIONA Cultura has been selected to carry out projects at two iconic institutions in New York City: The National Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island and The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. It has also carried out projects at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Ohio, and the San Diego Museum of Art in California.