John Laing is a 47.5% shareholder in the A16 Rotterdam, an availability-based road project in the Netherlands as part of a wider consortium, the De Groene Boog consortium, which also includes Besix, Dura Vermeer, Van Oord, RebelValley and TBI.

Financial close was achieved in June 2018, with the consortium partners responsible for the design, build and financing of the project as well as a twenty-year maintenance period.  Construction began in early 2019 and is expected to complete in 2025.

The project consists of a new 11 kilometre connection between the A13 and A20 motorways north of Rotterdam in order to relieve congestion and improve access to The Hague airport. The route cuts through Lage Bergse Bos, and includes the construction of a semi-immersed tunnel.

The project was originally awarded not just on the basis of lowest but also on the bidders’ commitments to stakeholder relations and the way in which they took account of the wider impact on local communities and environments.  The road is being incorporated into the landscape as effectively as possible, and will be energy-neutral for 20 years.  Noise pollution will be addressed through the use of extra noise-reducing asphalt as well as noise barriers.  In 2020, the project was awarded a ‘Duurzame Parel’ (Sustainable Pearl) awarded in recognition of its sustainable civil engineering approach, which includes the first energy-neutral tunnel in the world.