Skanska to build the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America - will have 60% share of USD 531 M Cooper River Bridge

Skanska to build the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America - will have 60% share of USD 531 M Cooper River Bridge project Skanska, as the leader of Palmetto Bridge Constructors consortium, has been awarded the contract for design and construction of the new Cooper River Bridge in Charleston County, South Carolina. The contract - which will be included in the order bookings for the third quarter - is valued at USD 531 million, of which Skanska's share is 60%, or approximately SEK 3.5 billion. The customer is the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). The new bridge will be the longest cable-stayed bridge in North America, with a main span of 1546 feet (464 meters) and a total length including approach ramps of more than two miles, approximately 3.2 kilometers. It will rise 186 feet (56 meters) above the water. Palmetto is a joint venture led by the Skanska USA Civil company, Tidewater Skanska of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Skanska's partner on the project is Flatiron Structures Company, a unit of HBG. Parsons Brinckerhoff is leading the design team for Palmetto. The project represents a breakthrough for Skanska as a builder of cable- stayed bridges in North America. "A major contributor to our success in winning this large and challenging project has been the combination of our 70-year history of successful bridge construction in the southeastern United States and Skanska Sweden's experience of designing and building cable-stayed bridges such as the Øresund and Uddevalla bridges. Engineers from Skanska Sweden will join Tidewater Skanska staff on the design-build construction team." said David Eastwood, Chairman and CEO of Tidewater Skanska, Inc. The new bridge will carry eight lanes of traffic plus one lane for pedestrians and bicycles. The Cooper River Bridge will cross the main shipping channel that leads to the upstream ports of Charleston County. Construction will commence this summer and will be completed in 2006. This is the second design-build construction contract for the South Carolina/DOT won by this joint venture. In March of last year, the same design-build team was awarded a USD 240 million highway project in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Both of these projects are under the U.S. Government's five-year, Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, (TEA-21) Program that provides federal funding for highway programs, and is spurring growth in the civil construction market of the United States. This program will continue to fund significant infrastructure projects across the United States through 2003. For further information please contact: Dave Bottorff, Vice President, Tidewater Construction Corporation, Tel +1 757 578 4100 Tor Krusell, Senior Vice President Communications, Skanska AB, Tel +46 8 753 87 47 An illustration of the Cooper River Bridge project, suitable for Internet publishing, is available at www.skanska.com/cooperriverbridge This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/07/03/20010703BIT00490/bit0002.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/07/03/20010703BIT00490/bit0002.pdf