Specialist in technically challenging projects

Construction consortium VeenIX, a partnership between PGGM and FCC, is responsible for the design, construction, pre-financing and 14-year maintenance of the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. For Spanish main contractor FCC Construcción, this is the first project in the Netherlands and immediately one of the most challenging in its global portfolio. An interview with project director Raúl Hortal Alonso and project manager Angel Rodríguez Legaretta. 

FCC Construcción specializes in the realization of large-scale infrastructure projects. The company has a global scope and operates in more than 25 countries with 20,000 employees. "Currently our focus is on North America, Canada, Western Europe, the Middle East and Australia," said Hortal Alonso. "Specifically for Europe, we are mainly strengthening our position in the Benelux and Great Britain. In Belgium we recently completed a nice project (Haren Prison) and now we are in the process of tendering for other projects in Belgium and also again in the Netherlands."

Advanced infrastructure

The infrastructure in the Netherlands is among the most advanced in the world, Hortal Alonso believes. "In addition, from a business perspective, it is completely safe for us to stick our necks out here. Both legally and financially, everything is regulated to perfection. All these things come together in the A9 project, which is characterized by many characteristic elements, such as the location with limited space, the weak soil conditions, the demolition and construction of many artworks and the construction of a sunken position right through Amstelveen. A typical project where we as FCC can show our added value. We are used to adapting to local conditions and are active worldwide on projects that are anything but conventional."

Subareas

And anything but conventional is the road widening of the A9 between Badhoevedorp and Holendrecht. Even the start of the project, by the way, in January 2020, just before the corona lockdown in March that year. "It was quite challenging to build a completely new organization from scratch in a country unknown to us, completely remote," Hortal Alonso acknowledges. "Because of the lockdown, everyone was working at home. That had a big impact especially on the design phase, but we managed that too in the end, albeit with a slight delay in the schedule for the middle section." This is because the project is split into three subprojects: east, middle and west. "Each subarea has its specific challenges, but overall, the slack ground is the most challenging," says Rodríguez Legaretta. "We haven't experienced that before in other countries. Also fairly unique is that the A9 remains available to traffic as much as possible, albeit via bypasses, but that gives the necessary constraints in terms of construction space."

Environmental cost indicator

And speaking of specifics, Rodríguez Legaretta praised the attention to the environment in the massive infra project. "The Netherlands absolutely leads the way when it comes to the circular economy, especially if we compare it to all our other projects worldwide. We haven't seen such an approach before." He is referring to the Environmental Cost Indicator, also called the MKI, a single-score indicator expressed in euros, which shows the shadow costs of the project. "These environmental targets are important for the Netherlands, but the lessons we learn together here we also take to other projects. It strengthens our position as a company." 

Such a massive project as the A9, of course, FCC Construcción is not making it alone. "From FCC we are active on the project with sixty employees, but we also gratefully make use of the expertise of local market parties," says Hortal Alonso. "We are like an integrator who makes the best choices for the project. In that sense, we have no limitations and are open to working with all types of companies and cultures." The A9 is also an international project in that respect, with more than 10 nationalities working on and around the project. According to Hortal Alonso, implementation is proceeding steadily and on schedule.