The Anthony Henday Drive South East Leg Ring Road was the largest transportation project awarded by Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation to-date and is their first public-private partnership project delivered under a design-build-finance-operate model.  

The project added:

• 11 kilometers of divided freeway;   

• 20 separate bridge structures; 

• 124 lane kilometers of road; 

• Five interchanges offering access on or off the ring road; 

• Four flyovers; 

• Seven rail grade separation structures; 

• and a signalized rail level crossing. 

The overall goal of the project was to form an important transportation link for communities in the Edmonton region and to relieve pressure on the city’s existing road network. This goal included several specific objectives shared by the client and PCL, including:

• Providing effective and efficient highway infrastructure;

• Maintaining the safety of the traveling public;

• Ensuring the highway is designed, constructed, operated, maintained and rehabilitated in an environmentally responsible manner that meets or exceeds all specified provincial and federal standards; 

• Allocating the risks between the public and private sectors to the party best able to manage and mitigate them;  

• And obtaining value by optimizing life cycle costs. 

Timing of this project required confirmation of a firm price two full years before the highest anticipated cost escalation year. We established a price, and, under the P3 arrangement, delivered a modern freeway two years earlier than would have been possible under traditional procurement methods. We also helped the client save $140 million and had zero change orders, making the project a resounding success.