The highway over the feared Kicking Horse Pass proved to be a door-opener in Canada: Bilfinger Berger is now considered a leading provider of privately-financed transport projects there.
Text: Oliver Blaha, Photos: Bill Pitcher
Plate-sized holes in the asphalt, steep slopes, falling rocks – for decades the frequently traveled Kicking Horse Pass in the Canadian Rocky Mountains was considered one of the most dangerous in all of Canada. For a long time the provincial and federal governments could not afford to rehabilitate the highway,which was built in the ‘50s.
Experts estimate Canada’s current infrastructure deficit at over €42 billion. Concession models, in which private providers design, finance, build and maintain roads and other public infrastructure are therefore being turned to more and more often. “The Kicking Horse Pass was our foot in the door to the North American market”, explains Nick Dawson, Executive Manager at Bilfinger Berger.
Shorter construction time and lower costs
The company has managed to acquire two additional major transport projects since then: the Golden Ears Bridge near Vancouver and the Calgary Ring Road in Alberta. Only two years after entering the market, Bilfinger Berger is now considered one of the leading developers of privately-financed concession projects in transport infrastructure.