Launch of the new coastal highway project on Reunion Island

20 December 2013 - New contracts - France

On 20 December 2013, Jean-Luc Marx, Prefect of Reunion Island, and Didier Robert, President of the Réunion region, formally launched the construction of the viaduct for the new coastal highway (Route du Littoral) to be built by a consortium comprising VINCI Construction subsidiaries VINCI Construction Grands Projets (lead company) and Dodin Campenon Bernard, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Demathieu & Bard.

5,400 metres in length, this offshore viaduct will connect Saint-Denis (the administrative capital of La Réunion) with La Grande Chaloupe. It will provide 2x3 traffic lanes, two of them dedicated to "soft" modes of transport (buses, pedestrians, bicycles). This viaduct is the major structure of the new Route du Littoral, which will replace the existing cliff road between Saint-Denis and La Possession, subject to rock-falls, and flooding during tropical storms.

At the same time, work started on the construction, between La Grande Chaloupe and La Possession, of the 2x3 lane causeway (3,600 m) and its interchange (at La Possession), which form the other part of the new road link. This second project has been awarded to the consortium formed by GTOI, a Reunion Island-based subsidiary of Colas, leader, SBTPC (a Reunion Island-based subsidiary of VINCI Construction) and VINCI Construction Terrassement.

In line with the technical approach suggested by the consortium, the viaduct will be mainly (95%) built using prefabricated elements, most of them brought in by sea. The causeway, for its part, has been designed to withstand maritime constraints and, in particular, any hundred-year waves.
The viaduct works (€715 million) and those on the other two works packages (€530 million) will be completed in 2018.