In The News
Tolling giants get in line for proposed Detroit bridge
On a list of who’s who in the world of toll roads and public-private partnerships, Cintra of Spain and Macquarie of Australia are two of the biggest. It should be no surprise then that both of these major players have shown interest in building and operating a new U.S.-Canadian border bridge at Detroit.
The Michigan Department of Transportation and Transport Canada recently asked for requests for proposal from companies interested in the Detroit River International Crossing project. It’s a massive bridge and infrastructure project that would link Detroit with Windsor, Ontario.
Current Michigan law requires public-private partnerships and tolling to be addressed on a case-by-case basis by the state Legislature. A bill known as HB4961would change the way the game is played because it would allow the Michigan Department of Transportation more control to use tolling and public-private partnerships to build infrastructure.
HB4961 has received House approval and is currently being debated in the state Senate. If it passes and is signed into law by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, it would allow the DRIC project up to be built and operated as a public-private partnership, even though the bill itself does not specifically mention the DRIC by name.
According to the proposals received by MDOT and Transport Canada, a total of 20 companies are in the running to build and/or operate the DRIC bridge project.
Many
Land Line readers and listeners are already familiar with two of the companies – infrastructure giants
Cintra
and
Macquarie,
who are in the running as separate bidders.
A few years ago, these two companies teamed up to lease the Chicago Skyway, Indiana Toll Road and Ontario’s 407 Express Toll Route. Macquarie also has controlling interest in the Dulles Greenway in Virginia and the recently bankrupted South Bay Expressway in San Diego.
Readers and listeners may not be familiar with some of the other players, but some have surfaced from time to time in other proposals involving U.S. infrastructure. Others have not. Here’s the list:
Infrastructure giant
Fluor
of Austin, TX, a
Fortune 500 company;
Scotia Capital
, an affiliate of Canadian bank Scotiabank;
Acciona S.A.
, one of the largest contractors in Spain;
Canadian company
SNC-Lavalin
, which is currently a third partner with Cintra
Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd.
, from the Republic of Korea, specializing in bridges, tunnels and rail projects;
Globalvia Infraestructuras
, an infrastructure developer from Spain that operates 24 roadways including 15 toll roads mainly in Europe;
Gowlings
, one of the biggest business law firms in Canada;
A partnership of Denver-based
Flatiron
and Omaha-based
Kiewit
, two powerhouses in the bridge-building industry;
A consortium headed by
Walsh Construction Company
of Chicago and
PCL Civil Constructors
of Tampa, FL;
U.S. subsidiaries of
ACS
and partner
Dragados
, both infrastructure companies headquartered in Spain;
BMO Capital Markets
, part of Bank of Montreal which is the fourth-largest bank in Canada;
Scott Associates Architects Inc.
with offices in Canada and the U.S.;
Hochtief PPP Solutions North America
headquartered in Toronto, Canada;
A partnership of
Meridiam
of Toronto and
AECOM
of Dallas, TX;
Walter Toebe Construction Company
of Wixom, MI;
Coco Paving Inc.
of Toronto; and
Bouygues Travaux Publics
of France.
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and Macquarie in the Ontario 407 ETR toll road;