A1 motorway Germany
The motorway will be widened from four to six lanes. Credit: STRABAG AG.

A1 Lohne Bramsche, an equally owned joint venture (JV) company of JOHANN BUNTE Bauunternehmung (JOHANN BUNTE) and STRABAG, is set to begin the widening of a 30km road stretch of the A1 motorway in Germany.

The Federal Republic of Germany, represented by Die Autobahn des Bundes, Westphalia Office, commissioned the JV under a function-based construction contract (FBV).

STRABAG CEO Thomas Birtel said: “The widening of the motorway from four to six lanes will eliminate a bottleneck on the busy A1. We are pleased to be able to contribute our expertise as the market leader in German transportation infrastructure construction to this major project.”

Under the €600m contract, the JV will widen nearly 30km of road in Lower Saxony between the Lohne / Dinklage exit and Bramsche exit, from two to three lanes in each direction.

In addition, the JV will be responsible for providing structural maintenance over the next 30 years.

Work is set to begin from 1 February and the road section will be fully open for traffic in mid-2025.

Under the JV, JOHANN BUNTE will serve as the technical lead, while STRABAG will serve as the commercial lead.

In addition to the construction of the carriageways, the JV company will be responsible for the construction of 14 bridges along the motorway section, as well as two overpasses over the motorway.

It will also rehabilitate 18 bridges and carry out noise barrier and landscaping work.

The road widening work will be carried out in eight phases, with the first five focusing on motorway widening in the direction of Osnabrück (2021 and 2022).

The next three phases comprise widening and construction work in the direction of Bremen.

JOHANN BUNTE Bauunternehmung management spokesman Manfred Wendt said: “With this contract, we are continuing our long-standing tradition and expertise in the realisation of infrastructure projects of this magnitude.

“Thanks to its excellent local knowledge and wealth of experience in motorway construction and civil engineering, BUNTE is in a strong position to accomplish these demanding tasks.”